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FA1RT TALES BT DUMAS 











FAIRT-TALES 

BT 

DUMAS 

Ik 

EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY 

HARRY A. SPURR 

Author of “The Life and Writings of Alexandre Dumas,” etc. 

ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK 

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



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Fa, 


UBB»«rv "f OONGfJfSS 

Two ttaoies Xemveo 

StP 22 1904 

-» Oowrleht Entry 

S JiAiz.tio'l 

CLASS XXo. No. 

? 7'13 

COPY B 


Copyright, 1904 

By Frederick A. Stokes Company 


Published in September, 1904 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. 





~ ' T ' ~ ' ~ iTl YFFT ' I filTir iTUniTIIPHTilHilM 

To Our Readers 


T HE first of these tales was written for you all, many years 
ago, by a great French story-teller, whose other books you 
will perhaps read when you grow up. When he says that 
“ Aramis” wrote it, he means himself, for Aramis is one of 
the men in his most famous work, “ The Three Musketeers.” 

You will all have seen Pierrots, at the sea-side or in pictures, 
dressed as you see the hero of this book. He is not a real character, 
any more than our Punch, but he is a much more lovable one. He 
is half a clown, half a fairy, who dances wonderfully, sings pretty 
little songs, and is always light-hearted and amusing. It is not easy 
to say who first thought of Pierrot, and made him what he .is ; so 
the clever French story-teller has made up for himself how Pierrot 
came to be found (for immortals are not born), and why he gave up 
his life to amusing children. 

I hope these few words will help you to enjoy this fairy tale of 
the far-off days “ When Pierrot was young.” 

The TRANSLATOR, 






mm MBPiiiiiiiwiimiiiiiiiiini iiiiiiiffiarwiBwiMT 

fairy tales by dumas 



Preface 


T HE public generally has such a distrust of all books attrib- 
uted to Dumas pere that a word or two respecting the 
origin of the four stories in this volume should be added, 
together with our reasons for choosing them. 

Most of the fairy tales published in Dumas’s name, in the 
volumes “ L’Histoire d’un Casse-Noisette,” “ Le P&re Gigogne,” and 
“ L’Homme aux Contes ” are more or less translations from Andersen, 
Grimm, etc. ; and the ones here , given may therefore be said to com- 
prise all the stories of that description in which Dumas’s genius had 
an important share. 

The first, “ La Bouillie de la Comtesse Berthe ” was published in 
1844, being obviously a result of its author’s visit to Rhineland six 
years previously. In an introduction to the story, Dumas declares 
that he passed the castle of Wistgaw on his way down the Rhine, 
and that a fellow-passenger told him the legend, which he after- 
wards set on paper for. the delight of his friends the children. It 
is possible, however, that he heard it from his friend Gerard de 
Nerval, who accompanied him during this holiday, and was a great 
lover of fairy tales. It is he, indeed, who was the “ Homme aux 
Contes,” or “ Man who tells stories,” of the volumes so called, Dumas 
having written the tales after hearing De Nerval tell them. 

This legend has always been a great favourite with French chil- 
dren, and one or two translations were made about fifty or sixty 
years ago, but of late years the story has been unaccountably 
neglected. 

“ La Jeunesse de Pierrot ” first appeared in Dumas’s paper, “ Le 
Mousquetaire,” in 1854, under the title of “ Le Roi de Boheme ” (“The 
King of Bohemia”). As will be seen by his own preface to the 
story, Dumas was fond of inventing all sorts of ways of accounting 

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PREFACE 


for their origin ; but in the absence of evidence to show that it was 
written by anyone else, we are forced to conclude that “ Aramis,” 
one of his four famous musketeers, was Dumas himself, especially as 
the story was duly incorporated with his works. ( )f course Pierrot 
does not date from the seventeenth century : the words “ electrify ” 
and “ electricity ” for instance, are of modern date ; and the bear- 
steaks eaten by Pierrot were evidently suggested by the famous 
incident in Dumas’s own career. The chapter-headings scattered 
throughout the story are taken from a popular French ballad of the 
time, “ Au Clair de la Lune,” in which all these disjointed phrases 
and sentences appeared. 

Of the two minor stories, “ Les Etoiles Commia-Voyageurs,” 
which also appeared in “ Le Mousquetaire,” was the work of Dumas 
and a German humourist named Saphir, whose talents our author 
was one of the first in France to discover. The editor of the “ Mous- 
quetaire ” offered to translate, popularise, and “ place ” a series of 
extracts from the foreigner’s works (this letter is in our possession), 
and obtained him a good price for them. 

According to Audebrand (“A. Dumas a la Maison d’Or”), Gerard 
de Nerval selected the best work from Saphir’s innumerable jeux 
d’ esprit, another of the staff translated them literally, Bocage knocked 
them into shape, and then Dumas “ covered them with the powdered 
gold of his wit. This translation merits consideration as one of the 
best things by the author of ‘ Antony.’ ” It is significant that 
although several of Saphir’s writings appeared in Dumas’s journal 
under his own sign, “ Les Etoiles ” was signed by Dumas and pub- 
lished in his miscellanea. 

How much of the merit of the story as it stands is due to Dumas 
and how much to Saphir, it is impossible to say now ; but as the 
German is now only known to the world through Dumas, it is fair to 
conclude that the process to which the Frenchman subjected the 
stories has given them their only chance of surviving. 

It should be noted that the movements of the first star indicate 
to anyone familiar with Paris that the Institut and the Palais de 
Justice are alluded to plainly. 

Some of our readers may recognise an old friend in Mocquet’s 
“ Voyage a la Lune.” It is in fact founded on an Irish anecdote, 
very popular about a hundred years ago, respecting the adventures 

[ viii ] 














f 








* 






* 









PREFACE ^ 


of one Daniel O’Rourke. The Frenchman has lengthened and 
elaborated it, and re-told it in his inimitable style ; and those who 
wish to compare the original with the developed story may be 
referred to T. Crofton Croker’s volume of Irish fairy legends. The 
author of the anecdote is not known ; but it is thought to have been 
borrowed from Ariosto (with the adventures of whose hero Astolpho 
and his hippogriff, Dumas was well acquainted). The tale is so old 
as to be new to the children of to-day ; and to our thinking it could 
not be more amusingly told than by that great romancer and lover 
of children, Alexandre Dumas. 








Contents 


W hen Pierrot was Young 

Chapter P&gt 

I The Woodcutter’s Supper 3 

II What a Little Child May Bring About 6 

III Pierrot’s Baptism 10 

IY “ By the Light of the Moon, oh, Pierrot, my Friend ! ” . . . . . 16 

Y The Little Bed Fish 22 

VI “For the Love of Heaven, open the Door! ” 30 

VII “ The April Fish ” 33 

VIII “ My Candle is out — I have no more Light ! ” 38 

IX Renardino’s Treason 45 

X The Death of Prince Azor 49 

XI Pierrot’s Vow 59 

XII Conclusion 65 

7 he Countess Bertha’s Honey- Feast 

I Who the Countess Bertha Was * ~ 71 

II The Cobolds .71 

III The Old Castle 72 

IV The Embassy 74 

V The Honey-Feast 75 

VI The Ghost 78 

VII Ration — Bread and Water 82 

[ xi ] 










































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CONTENTS 


Chapter Page 

VIII Waldemar of Rosenberg 86 

IX The Watches 87 

X Wilbold of Eisenfeld 89 

XI The Chevalier Hans de Warburg 91 

XII Hilda 94 

XIII The Hand of Fire 96 

XIY The Chevalier Torald 98 

XV The Slayer of Ghosts 100 

XVI The Duel 105 

XVII The Knight of the Distaff 109 

XVIII The Treasure 113 






















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V 





















* 





JVHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 






“Set to work with such sharp little teeth and an air of delight 9 * 







When Pierrot was Toung 


My dear Children : 

I F your parents say they must read this book, tell them that it 
has been written for you, and not for them. If you want to 
know (for little children always “ want to know ” ) who wrote 
the story, let me tell you that the author is one Aramis. If you 
want to know the history of Aramis’s life, I must answer, you are 
too young to read it yet. If, lastly, you wish to know for whom 
he wrote the story, I can tell you : it was told to the children of 
a lady named Madame de Longueville, during a time of trouble 
(such as God preserve us from nowadays !) known as “ The Fronde.” 

Now, dear children, may Aramis amuse you as much when he 
writes, as he amused your fathers and mothers when he plotted, 
made love, and fought, in company with his three comrades, Athos, 
Porthos, and D’Artagnan. 

Alexandre Dumas. 


CHAPTER I — Ehe Woodcutter* s Supper 

O NCE upon a time, my dear children, there lived in a little 
corner of Bohemia an old woodcutter and his wife, who 
dwelt in a miserable hut, in the depths of a forest. They 
were not rich, indeed, for their only fortune lay in the 
two gifts which God gives to the poor, — the love of work and two 
stout arms to work with. 

All day, from dawn to dark, you could hear the sound of great 
blows struck with the hatchet ringing through the woods, and of 
merry singing that kept time with the strokes. It was the good 
man at his work. 

When night came, he would gather together his day’s harvest 
of wood, and turn his steps homeward, his back bent with the 

[ 3 ] 

































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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS «£? 

weight of his spoil. In his little hut he always found a clear and 
sparkling fire, and his good wife standing over it, smiling welcome 
to him across the steam of the savoury stew, — a sight which made 
his heart rejoice greatly. 

For many years the pair had passed their days thus, but there 
came an evening when the woodman did not return at his usual 
hour. 

It was winter-time, — the month of December. The forest, 
turf and tree, was covered with snow ; and the north wind, which 
raged wildly through the woods, bore along with it clouds of snow, 
which it had swept from the branches, and which glimmered white 
as they were borne across the night. One might have fancied them 
ghosts out of your fairy-tale books, sailing through the black sky 
to their midnight meeting-place ! 

Old Marguerite — for that was the good wife’s name — was, as 
you may believe, very anxious. She kept going to the door of the 
little home, listening with all her ears, searching with all her eyes ; 
but she heard nothing but the wind howling in the treetops, and 
saw nothing but the snow, which lay white along her good' man’s 
path as far as her sight 'could follow. 

She returned to the warm fireside and sank upon a stool. Her 
heart was so full of fear that the tears fell from her eyes. Seeing 
her so sad, everything in the little cottage became sad too. The 
fire, which always sparkled so gaily on the hearth, lost its bright- 
ness, and sank little by little to dull cinders ; and the little iron 
pot, which had rumbled so lustily just before, now took to sobbing 
in plaintive bubbles. 

Two long hours passed thus, when suddenly a voice, chanting a 
chorus, was heard a few paces from the cabin. Marguerite trembled 
at this accustomed signal of her husband’s return, and, rushing to 
the door, reached it in time to fall into her good man’s arms. 

“ Bon soir, my good Marguerite, bon soir,” said the woodcutter. 
“ I am a bit late, but you will forgive me when you see what I ’ve 
found.” 

As he spoke, he set down upon the table before his wife’s as- 
tonished gaze, a pretty wicker cradle, in which lay a little child, 
so delicately formed, so tiny and so pretty, that the dame’s heart 
was touched at the bare sight of the child. 

[ ^ ] 




WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG *%* 

It was clothed in a long white tunic, with hanging sleeves which 
seemed like a dove’s folded wings ; and wide trousers of white stuff 
— like the coat — left uncovered two neat little feet shod with 
shoes, red-heeled and rosetted. Round his neck spread a cambric 
ruff, elegantly crimped ; and on his head he wore a pretty hat of 
white felt, cocked coquettishly over one ear. 

Never had the woodcutter seen such a pretty little picture ; but 
what impressed the kindly dame most was the child’s strange com- 
plexion. It was as white as if its dear little head had been carved 
in alabaster. 

“ By Saint Janvier! ” cried the good woman, clasping her hands, 
“ how pale he is ! ” 

“ That ’s not to be wondered at,” answered the woodcutter ; “he 
had lain eight days under the snow when I found him.” 

“ Holy Virgin ! eight days under the snow — and you did n’t tell 
me that straight away ! Why, the poor thing l s frozen ! ” 

And without another word the old wife took the cradle, set it 
in the chimney corner, and threw a whole faggot on the fire. 

The little pot, which was only waiting for this encouragement, 
began suddenly to tremble, and to froth and bubble so noisily that 
the little one in the cradle, his nostrils tickled by the savoury smell, 
began to sniff repeatedly. He licked his lips with his tiny red 
ribbon of a tongue, and then, to the great astonishment of the old 
couple, who could scarcely believe their eyes, he sprang from the 
cradle with a little cry of joy. 

My dears, you can guess why, — he had just become aware of 
the old couple’s supper! 

To fly towards the pot, plunge the big wooden spoon into its 
depths, draw it out, and carry a mouthful of its contents, all boiling 
as it was, to his mouth, was the work of a moment. But, oh ! no 
sooner had his lips touched the spoon than the little one flung it 
down and began to jump round the room, making such droll grim- 
aces that the good man and his wife did not know whether to laugh 
or cry over him. 

The little glutton had burnt his tongue ! 

Still, the old couple felt relieved to see that in spite of the fact 
that he was as pale as ever, the little stranger was far from being 
frozen. 


[ 5 ] 




FAIRY TALES BY D U M A S 


Whilst the little man made all this stir in the room, old Mar- 
guerite set about laying supper. The pot was set upon the table ; 
and already the woodcutter, his sleeves tucked up, was preparing 
to enjoy himself, when our little imp, who was watching all these 
doings out of the corner of his eye, sprang resolutely upon the table, 
seated himself before the pot, and clasping it about with his legs, 
set to work with such sharp little teeth and such an air of delight 
that this time the old couple, freed from all anxiety on his account, 
could control themselves no longer. They began to laugh, and 
so madly, that not having taken the precaution to hold their sides 
(as one should always do, my dears, on such occasions), the pair fell 
flat on their backs and rolled here, there, and everywhere about 
the floor ! 

When they recovered themselves a quarter of an hour later and 
rose to their feet, the pot was empty, and the little one was sleeping 
like a cherub in his- cradle. 

“ What a dear he is ! ” said the good Marguerite, who was laugh- 
ing still. 

“But he has eaten our supper!” answered the woodman, who 
became solemn enough at the thought. 

And the kindly couple, who had had nothing to eat since morn- 
ing, went off to bed fasting. 


CHAPTER II— IVhat a Little Child May 
Bring About 

N EXT day Marguerite was up and about before dawn, eager 
to go and tell all her gossips in the neighbouring ham- 
let the story of the little manikin, and how he was 
discovered. 

As they heard her marvellous news the old dames opened their 
eyes and mouths in wonder, and rivalled one another in their cries 
of astonishment. In a moment all tongues were set a-clacking, 
and before the sun was up the story was known in every house 
for ten leagues around. 


[ 6 ] 



WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

Only, as always happens, the tale grew and grew as it spread, 
until it took the most terrifying form. It was no longer, as it 
began, merely a child that had eaten the supper of the good folks 
who took it in : it was a white bear of gigantic size, which had 
broken into the poor couple’s cabin and cruelly devoured them! 
A little later in the day, the rumour reached the capital of the 
kingdom itself, and having continued to grow, the white bear had 
become a monster as big as a mountain, which had swallowed the 
entire families of twenty woodcutters, hatchets and all, at a gulp. 

Therefore the good people of the town took great care not to 
put their noses out of window as they generally did, to sniff the 
morning air, but barricaded their houses, took to their beds again, 
and cowered under the clothes, not daring to breathe, so terrified 
were they. 

And yet it was only a very little child that caused all this terror, 
— which shows, dear readers, that you should always see a thing 
pretty closely before being frightened of it. 

Now, this very day the King of Bohemia was to ride through 
the streets of the capital in great pomp, to open the sittings of the 
Council, according to custom, — which means, my dear children, 
that His Majesty was to pay the people pretty compliments, and 
they were to repay him with plenty of money. 

It was a very important occasion : the Councillors were to agree 
to some new taxes, each more absurd than the last, but which, 
absurd as they were, would bring in plenty of millions. 

Furthermore., the King meant to ask for a dowry for his only 
daughter, now fifteen years of age, and dowries, too, for the little 
princes and princesses not yet born, but which the King and Queen 
did not despair of having some day. 

Now, for a whole month, from morning till night, the King had 
shut himself up in his study, and with his gaze fixed on the floor 
had made unheard-of efforts to learn by heart the famous discourse 
which the lord Alberti Renardino, his prime minister, had written 
for the occasion. But he could not fix two words of it in his mind. 

“ What am I to do ? ” lie cried one night, falling exhausted from 
his throne, out of breath with his vain efforts to learn his lesson. 

“ Sire, nothing is more simple,” said Renardino, who entered just 
at this moment, — “ see ! ” 


[ 7 ] 

















































































































































































































FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 


And with a stroke of the pen he cut down the speech to half, 
and by way of making things even, doubled the taxes. 

And now the King, with a large train, set out from the palace, 
and advanced, as fast as his mule’s slow pace would take him, 
towards the building where the Councillors 
awaited the royal speech. 

At his right came the Queen, lying full 
length in a litter carried by thirty-two black 
slaves, the strongest that could be bought. 
At his left, mounted on a dun-coloured horse, 
rode Fleur d’Amandier, the heiress to the ' 
kingdom, and the most beautiful princess 
in the world. 

In the second rank came a person of 
high degree, richly clothed 
Eastern dress, but ugly 
enough to frighten you. He 
w r as humpbacked and knock- 
kneed, and his 
beard, eyebrows, 
and hair were so 
red that one could 
not look him in the 
face with- 
out blink- 
ing. This 
was Prince 
A z o r, a 
great war- 
rior, who was always fighting the Kings his 
neighbours, and to whom the King ot Bo- 
hemia, for safety’s sake, had betrothed his 
daughter Fleur d’Amandier, the (lay before. This vile man had 
claimed to be present at the Council, so as to frighten the mem- 
bers into voting the dowry for his future wife. 

By his side marched Lord Renardino, who laughed slyly to 
himself as he thought of the heavy taxes with which (thanks to 
him) the good people of Bohemia were going to be crushed. 

[ ] 



“ This teas Prince Azov 







WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 


* 7 * 

The procession had not gone a hundred paces before everyone 
was struck with wonder. The shops were closed, and the streets 
deserted ! 

The astonishment was greater still when a herald approached 
and announced to the King that the Council-chamber was empty. 

“By my hump! What does this mean, I’d like to know?” 
cried Prince Azor, who had seen the Princess’s pretty face break 
into smiles at the news. “ Do they mean to play some trick 
on me h ” 

“Yes, what does it mean, Lord Renardino h ” asked the King. 
“ Why don’t the people gather in the streets as usual, and cry, as 
they ought to do, ‘ Long live the King ’ ? ” 

The chief minister, who knew nothing of the great news which 
had alarmed the city, did not know what to say in reply, when 
suddenly Prince Azor, purple with rage, struck the nobleman on 
the cheek. 

The angry Prince had seen Fleur d’Amandier smile beneath her 
veil a second time, and was Convinced that they were making sport 
of him. 

“ King of Bohemia ! ” he cried, grinding his teeth, “ this jest 
shall cost you dear ! ” And setting spurs to his horse, he galloped 
away furiously. 

At these words, which contained a threat of war, everyone 
turned pale except Renardino, who became very red. 

Disorder now reigned. The King and all his suite fled towards 
the palace, crying, “ To arms ! to arms ! ” and the thirty-two slaves 
hastened their flight by leaving the Queen’s litter in the middle of 
the street. Very luckily Her Majesty, believing herself to be 
already in the Council-chamber, had fallen peacefully asleep. 

Let us sum up the events which had just occurred. 

A kingdom was in agitation ; a marriage broken off ; a declara- 
tion of war had been made, and a great Queen left unprotected on 
the high-road, — all because a poor woodcutter had found a little 
child in the forest ! 

Such are the events, my dear children, that rule the fate of 
Kings and the greatness of empires! 


[ 9 1 




























FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 




CHAPITER III — Pierrot's Baptism 

T HE scene which we have just described had such an effect 
on the King that no sooner had he returned to the palace 

than he put on his coat of mail (which had gone very 

rusty since the last war) and took to cutting and thrusting 
ferociously with his sword at a dummy dressed in Eastern fashion, 
which was supposed to represent Prince Azor. 

He had passed his sword a hundred times or so through the 
figure’s body, when an idea suddenly occurred to him. This was 
to summon Lord Bambolino, the mayor of the town, to appear 

before him, so that he might know what had become of all the 

people. 

After a most painstaking search from house to house, Bam- 
bolino was found at length, hiding under a pile of trusses of straw 
at the back of a barn, clad in nothing more dignified than a short 
skirt. Fearing to be devoured by the monster, the poor man had 
hung round his neck a large leathern collar bristling with spikes 
such as sheep-dogs wear when in the fields, to protect themselves 
from wolves. 

The mayor was dragged to the foot of the throne and there told 
his story of the monster and his wicked practices, but the poor 
man’s teeth chattered so that it was hard to tell what he said. 

The whole court was ready to fly on hearing his tidings, but the 
King, who just then felt in the humour to fight, decided to start 
on the track of the monster that very instant, in spite of the reason- 
ings of Renardino, who protested that it would be much better to 
settle the matter on friendly terms, and hand over to the monster 
daily such an allowance of victims as his appetite might need. 

“ All very well,” the King had replied, “ but don’t forget, my 
lord, that you, as my Prime Minister, would be the one who would 
have to arrange matters with the monster.” 

So on second thoughts that gentleman did not press his point. 
Accordingly the King “took the field” straightway, at the head 
of all his court, and under the protection of as many of his guards 

[ 10 ] 



WHEN' PIERROT WAS YOUNG 


as lie could muster. Fleur d’Amandier, who loved sport passion- 
ately, joined the procession, and rode her snow-white charger with 
a charming grace, making him show his paces, whilst the steed 
himself, proud of his fair burden, strove to win admiration for his 
mistress and himself. 

(All this time the Queen, whom no one had missed since the 
morning, had slept placidly on in her litter, where the negroes had 
left it.) 

The company had ridden on for some hours without encounter- 
ing a soul, when suddenly an old woman, clothed in rags, stepped, 
as if by magic, out of a clump of underwood which bordered the 
high-road. 

Leaning on a stout white crutch-stick, she hobbled forward to 
the King, and, stretching out a withered hand, cried in a cracked 
voice : — 

“ Charity, kind gentlemen, pray : I am so cold and so hungry ! ” 

“ Back, old witch, street-beggar that you are ! ” cried Kenardino. 
“ Away, or I will have thee thrown into prison ! ” 

But the beldame looked so wretched that the King was moved 
to pity, and threw her his purse, which was full of gold. At the 
same time Fleur d’Amandier, unperceived by the courtiers, slipped 
into the poor woman’s hand a splendid collar of pearls which she 
had just taken from her neck. 

“ Take that, my good dame,” she said in a low voice, “ and 
come to see me at the palace to-morrow.” 

But no sooner had the Princess spoken than the old beggar 
disappeared, and, strange to say, the King found his purse in his 
belt once more, and the pearl collar sparkled as brilliantly as ever 
on the neck of Fleur d’Amandier. 

It was only Lord Kenardino who had suffered : he searched him- 
self all over for his purse, which he could not find, although he was 
certain he had brought it with him. 

A hundred paces farther on the procession came up with a 
young shepherd boy, who was placidly playing on his pipe, tending 
his sheep, whilst the poor creatures sought beneath the snow for 
a few sparse blades of grass to keep their teeth employed. 

“ Hi, friend, hi ! ” cried the King, “ can you tell us where we 
shall find the fierce monster of which we are in search ? ” 

[ 11 J 


















FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 




■S' 


“ Sire,” answered the youth, bowing with a grace and ease of 
manner very unusual in one of his station of life, “ Your Majesty 
has been deceived, like every one else : the ‘ monster ’ of whom 
they have told you is not a fierce creature, by any means ; it is a 
little child — harmless enough, surely — who was discovered by 
a woodcutter in the forest here.” 

Then he went on to give the King such an account of the little 
man, and of the strange pallor of his complexion, — which was 
whiter than anything else you ever saw, — that His Majesty, who 
was a great lover of nature, thought he would like to preserve this 
strange creature in spirits-of-wine. 

“ My daughter and I are very anxious to .see this wonderful 
little man,” he said cunningly. “ Will you guide us to him ? ” 

“ I am at your Majesty’s orders,” answered the shepherd, who 
had blushed cherry red at the mention of the Princess. 

The party rode on, led by the young guide, but although he 
took them by all the short cuts known to the foresters, an hour 
passed before he stopped at the woodcutter’s hut. 

The King dismounted and rapped at the door. 

“ Who is there ? ” cried a silvery voice from within. 

“ It is I, — the King ! ” 

At these magical words the door seemed to open of itself, like 
that of Ali Baba’s famous cave, and the little man appeared on the 
threshold, his conical hat in his hand. 

You, my dear children, would have taken good care that you 
did not come face to face with one of the greatest Kings of the 
the earth. More than one of you, I can guess, would have crept 
into a corner and hidden your face with your hands, opening your 
fingers, perhaps, just the tiniest little bit, to see if Kings are made 
like other people. 

But the manikin was not at all like that! He advanced with 
an exquisite grace, knelt on one knee before the King, and kissed 
the hem of his robe most respectfully. (I really don’t know where 
he learnt all this.) Then, turning towards Fleur d’Amandier, he 
saluted her with the utmost gallantry, and offered her his little 
white hand to help her to dismount. 

When this was done, without in the' least troubling himself 
about Kenardino, who expected to receive the same attention, he 

[ 12 ] 













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WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 


gracefully invited the King and his daughter to enter and seat 
themselves. 

The woodman and his wife (who had sat down to dinner two 
hours sooner than usual) were struck dumb at the 
sight of so many grand folk, and their hearts beat 
fast with fright. 

“ Good people,” said the King, “ I will make 
you rich, — ay, rich indeed, — if you will 
grant me two things : let me take away this 
little fellow, whom I wish to keep near me, 

— and give me straightway some of that 
smoking-hot broth of yours, 
which smells so good and 
savoury, for 
I have been 
riding all day 
and am dy- 
ing* of hungrer.” 



The good man 
and his wife were 
so amazed that 
they could not think 
of a word to say in 
reply. 

“ Sire,” said the 

little man, “ do with me what you will : 

1 am quite at your service, and ready to 
follow you. I only ask your Majesty to 
do me the favour of taking with you 
also these good folk, who have adopted 
me, and whom I love as much as if I 
'tfere their own son. As for the broth, 
pray do not be sparing of it; may I 
hope that you will grant me the hon- 
our, little though I am, of being your 
waiter ? ” 

“ Agreed,” said the King, patting the tiny fellow’s cheek kindly. 
“ You are a sensible lad, and we shall see, later on, what can be 
done for you.” 


The little man . . . across the 
back of an old ass. ” 


[ 13 ] 

















































FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 


So speaking, he and Fleur d’Amandier took the places of the 
old couple, who could not understand why the King had come so 
far in order to eat their poor supper. 

The meal was a merry one : the King even deigned in his high 

spirits to make a few jokes, which 
the little man had the good sense 
to laugh at. 

After supper, every one has- 
tened to prepare for departure, in 
order that they might reach the 
palace again before night. The 
two peasants, whom the King de- 
sired to favour, were with some 
trouble hoisted on the back of 
Lord Renardino’s 
mule, and sat in 
the saddle behind 
him. The littfe 
man for his part 
sprang lightly 
across the back of 
an old ass which he had 
been to fetch from the 
stable, and who, seeing 
such a gay gathering, 
began to bray with all his 
miffht, so elated was he to 



“ The tivo peasants . . . on the back of Lord Renardino’s mule.” 

find himself in such grand company. There only remained the 
young shepherd, who was forced to manage as best he could, seated 
behind the officer of the King’s guards. 

The procession set out in silence, for it was noticed that the 
King seemed deep in thought. To tell the truth, he was trying to 

[ 14 ] 

























' 





































» 





















































—I 


























W HEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

think of a name for his new servant, bnt as usual when he tried 
to think of anything, he failed. 

We will leave the cavalcade on its way back to the city and 
return to the palace, and to what was taking place there whilst 
the King was away. \ 

The black slaves, who had taken to flight at the threat uttered 
by Prince Azor, soon remembered that Renardino would take a 
keen delight in hanging them for their desertion of the Queen. 
They hurried back, therefore, to the litter, cautiously raised it once 
more, and bore it off to the palace. There they set the Queen 
down gently on a bed covered with gold brocade, and retired into 
the antechamber, feeling that a great weight had been taken from 
their shoulders. 

Now, you must know, my dear children, that the Queen was 
very, very fond of little birds : she kept all kinds, of every colour 
and from every country. When the pretty little captives took 
their pleasure in their golden-barred cage, and mingled in their play 
the thousand hues of their plumage, one could fancy that myriads 
of flowers and precious stones were taking flight ; whilst the chorus 
of joyous warblings and bewildering trills and ripples of sound 
was enough to send a musician crazy with delight. 

But, what will surprise you most — as it did me — was, that 
the Queen’s favourite bird was not a nightingale, nor a bird of 
Paradise, nor any other songster with sweet throat or golden breast ; 
it was one of those wretched sparrows, those thieves of corn, 
who live in the country at the expense of the poor peasants. Now, 
although the Queen was very kind to him, and forgave him all the 
liberties he took (some of which were too wicked for words), the 
ungrateful little imp regretted his freedom none the less, and pecked 
savagely at the bars which kept him captive. That morning the 
Queen, in her hurry to join the royal procession, had forgotten 
to close the window of the cage, and, whit ! — our sparrow took 
the lucky chance and flew off into the sky! 

Who so grieved as the Queen, when she awoke and found her 
little pet missing? She searched all the corners of the room, and 
then, seeing the window open, guessed the truth. 

She ran out on the balcony, and began to call the bird by his 
name, with all the endearing words she could think of, but the 

[ 15 ] 




























FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 


*$* 


*■ 


little truant, you may be sure, took good care not to answer. Slie 
had been calling to her beloved sparrow a full hour, when the door 
opened noisily, giving admittance to the King. 

“ Pierrot ! Pierrot ! ” 1 she cried. 

•“ Pierrot ! Pierrot ! ” echoed the King, jumping for joy. “ That ’s 
just what I wanted.” 

“ Alas, I ’ve lost it,” said the Queen, thinking of her pet. 

“ On the contrary, you ’ve found it,” answered the King. 

The Queen shrugged her shoulders. She thought the King had 
gone mad. 

And that, my dear children, is how our future hero got his name. 


CHAPTER IV — “By the Light of the Moon , 
oh, Pierrot , my Friend ! ” 

A MONTH has passed since the day of Pierrot’s baptism. 

By a miracle which it is impossible to explain, that little 
man grew up before the eyes of all, and so rapidly that 
the King, marvelling at the sight, sat for hours every day 
on his throne, watching his new pet shoot up in stature. Our hero 
had also found the way to win the good-will of both King and 
Queen, and had been named Royal Cupbearer, a very ticklish post, 
which he had filled with wonderful skill and tact. Never had the 
court of Bohemia been so flourishing: the full rich complexion of 
their Majesties was a subject for daily congratulation between 
them both. 

There was only one sad person at court. Lord Renardino’s pale 
face had grown more and more yellow. This was because of his 
jealousy of our friend Pierrot’s success, for the Minister hated the 
little man from the bottom of his heart. 

The young shepherd whom we have seen serving as the royal 
guide had been made head groom, and everyone spoke of his fine 
figure and elegant manners. Every time that Fleur d’Amandier 
crossed the guard-room to visit her mother’s apartments, she was 

1 “Pierrot,” in French, means “house sparrow.” 

[ 16 ] 
































. 






WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

saluted by the young courtier. He seemed so modest and yet so 
happy that the Princess, who did not wish to be behindhand in 
courtesy, made him a bow as she passed. 

And here, as the young groom will play a chief part in our 
story, it will be as well to tell you, dear readers, that his name 
was Coeur d’Or. 

The woodcutter and his wife had been made caretakers of the 
palace-gardens, and thanks to Pierrot, received every day the re- 
mains of the Royal dessert. 

Only the Prince Azor could disturb this happy state of things. 
The King had sent him a magnificent Embassy, laden with splendid 
presents, again offering him the Princess’s hand ; but Azor, still full 
of anger (to judge by the state of his beard, his hair, and his eye- 
brows, which bristled more than ever), had locked up the presents 
in his treasury, and put the Embassy to death. After this wicked 
deed he wrote with his own hand to the King of Bohemia, warn- 
ing him that he was about to make war upon him the following 
spring, — a war so deadly that he should not be happy until he 
had chopped King, court, and people, as small as mince-meat. 

As soon as the first shock caused by this alarming news had 
passed away, the King took counsel with his ministers, as to the 
best means of defending' his country. He sent immediately for all 
the great artists of the kingdom, and bade them paint on the city 
tvalls great pictures of monsters and wild beasts, such as should 
strike fear into the hearts of a foe. There were lions, bears, and 
tigers ; and panthers with outstretched claws three miles long, 
whose jaws opened so wide that one could see down into them, 
through and through, to the tips of their tails. Then there were 
crocodiles, which, having no possible excuse for showing their teeth, 
decided to go about with their mouths gaping, without rhyme or 
reason ; snakes whose immense coils wrapped the city round and 
round, and whose tails got sadly in their way ; and elephants, who 
marched haughtily to and fro, showing off by carrying mountains 
on their backs. 

In short, it was a menagerie the like of which was never seen ; 
and so terrible did it look that the common folk dared neither go 
into the city nor out of it, for fear of being devoured. 

This clever piece of work once finished, the King held a review 
2 [ H ] 



•Z* FAIRY TALES BY BUM AS *?* 

of his troops, and could not help feeling proud as he saw himself 
at the head of an army of two hundred foot and fifty horse. With 
such a mighty force he felt he could conquer the world, and he 
awaited -without flinching the coming of Prince Azor. 

Now, Pierrot, who, as Cupbearer, waited at the King’s table, 
soon gave way to a feeling of silent admiration for the beautiful, 
pure face of Fleur d’Amandier; and such pleasure did this cause 
him that one fine night he felt something quicken in his breast and 
move gently, like a bird that wakens in its nest. Then, an instant 
later, it began to beat so quickly and strongly that he was forced 
to clasp his hand to his side, to stop the wild thing. 

“ Hold ! hold ! ! hold ! ! ! ” he cried more and more loudly, like 
a man whose astonishment increases every moment. Then, as soon 
as he had spoken, Pierrot withdrew and spent the night wandering 
through the palace-gardens, in the moonlight. 

I cannot tell you, my dear children, what foolish idea entered 
poor Pierrot’s head, but from that day henceforth he surrounded 
Fleur d’Amandier with delicate little attentions, — set before her 
every day a bouquet of flowers freshly gathered from the royal 
greenhouses, and never failed to look out of the corner of his eye, 
to see whether the Princess noticed it. He was so full of his own 
thoughts that he made blunder after blunder at meal-times : some- 
times he would let the pepper-castor fall into Renardino’s soup ; 
sometimes he would take away that gentleman’s serviette before 
he had begun his meal. Another time he poured the contents of 
a jug down the Premier’s neck, thinking he was filling the royal 
cup ; and lastly, one day at dessert, he spilt full on his Lordship’s 
peruke an enormous plum-pudding, its sauce flaming with rum. 
This so greatly tickled the King that the servants were forced to 
loosen the napkin which His Majesty wore tied about his neck, in 
order that he might laugh freely and without fear of result. 

“ Laugh on ! Laugh on ! ” muttered Renardino to himself. 
“They laugh best who laugh last.” 

And having uttered this threat, he put out the fire which had 
seized on his wig, and pretended to laugh like the others ; but, as 
you may well believe, it was only “ with the tips of his teeth,” 
as they say. 

Some days after this a grand ball was given at the court; for 

[ 18 ] 























' 




































































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* 






























































































. 














WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 


the King, in order to win the good-will of all his people in his 
quarrel with Prince Azor, had invited all the chief men of the 
nation to it. 

Never had there been such a brilliant gathering. The King 
and Queen had put on for the occasion their state robes of ermine 
trimmed with golden bees. In their crowns were set two great 
diamonds that sparkled like stars, but which were so heavy that 
their Majesties, their heads sunk into their shoulders, were almost 
smothered. 

When the dancing began, in the dazzling light of the candles 
and the lustres above, the ball seemed like a vision of fairy- 
land. There were court-dances, blazing with gold, flowers, and 
diamonds, and Bohemian national dances, full of grace, vivacity, 
and elegance. 

Pierrot did wonders as a dancer, and again and again the King 
and Queen, unable to bear them any longer, put their crowns on 
a stool that they might applaud the little man more at their ease. 

When his turn came to dance with Fleur d’Amandier, Pierrot 
excelled even himself. You should have seen him then, if you 
would like to know what can be done with two legs, two arms, 
and a devoted heart ! He sprang from one end of the room to the 
other in a single bound, and returned in a moment with rapid little 
strides, skipping as lightly and joyously as a bird. You should 
have seen the pirouettes he made, and how he spun here, twirled 
there, so rapidly that his form seemed wrapped in a veil of white 
gauze, till soon it looked no more than a white mist, dim and 
motionless. He was no longer a man but a cloud ! But he had 
only to stand still, and the cloud disappeared, leaving the little man 
in his place once more. 

The whole assembly was delighted with this novel display ; and 
every time Pierrot whirled himself invisible, or returned to view 
again, the King never failed to cry, in a voice that was anxious 
and joyful by turns, — 

“ Ah, there — he ’s gone ! — Ah, there he is again ! ” 

Excited by his success, our hero resolved to crown his triumphs 
by a final feat of dancing skill ; but as ill-luck would have it, just 
at the height of his glory, his leg became entangled in Lord Renar- 
dino’s, and — thump ! — there was the haughty Minister stretched 

[ 19 ] 



* 5 ? FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 

full length on the floor, whilst his wig, which had flown twenty 
yards away, turned over and over, and shook such great clouds 
of powder out of its folds as set the whole assembly rubbing their 
eyes and coughing. 

I he poor Premier rose to his feet furious, and, darting upon his 
wig, clapped it on his head again anyhow. Then he caught at 
Pierrot by one of his coat-buttons, and hissed in his ear, — 

“ Pretty ma-s-s-sk, you shall ans-s-swer to me for that ins-s-sult ! ” 

“What, was it you?” asked Pierrot, mockingly. 

“ Ah, you pretend to be surprised ! ” cried Renardino. “ Do you 
mean to tell me it was not done on purpose ? ” 

“ Oh, no,” answered the little man, quickly, “ for that would be 
telling a fib.” 

“ Insolent imp ! ” 

“ Softly, your Excellence, the King is looking at you, and may 
notice that your wig is all askew.” 

The anxious Minister put his hand quickly to his forehead. 

“ There ! ” cried Pierrot, stepping hack in pretended terror, “ not 
so much dust, please! You want to fight a duel, I suppose'?” 

“Yes, to the death ! ” 

“ Very good. There ’s no need to roll your eyes about like that, 
over such a simple matter. Where shall it be ? ” 

“At the cross-roads, in the Green Forest.” 

“ Delightful ! At what time ? ” 

“ To-morrow morning, at eight.” 

“ I will be there, my lord.” 

And Pierrot, with a single pirouette, reached the doorway, where 
Coeur d’Or stood on guard, with his pike. 

No sooner was the little man within reach than the young 
groom (who had watched Pierrot jealously, as he danced with Fleur 
d’Amandier) let the iron butt of his heavy weapon fall on the 
dancer’s foot. 

“ Come, jump, Pierrot ! ” he added in a low voice. 

The little man bounded as high as the ceiling, uttering a cry 
of anguish. The applause broke out louder than ever, at this fresh 
exploit. The King and Queen fell back in their thrones, and so 
heartily did they laugh that their crowns, falling from their exalted 
places,* bowled down the room like two gorgeous hoops. 

[ 20 ] 





WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

Luckily the courtiers were there and ran after them. Let them 
do it, dear children ; it is their proper work ! 

After the dancing it was the turn of the music. All the great 
operatic airs were played by the most famous performers in Bohemia. 
All the same, the Queen was obliged to pinch her royal spouse 
more than once, for he nodded as he sat on his gorgeous throne. 

When the great men had received the respectful attention which 
was their due, Fleur d’Amandier rose from her seat and sang, with- 
out any need of prayers and beseechings. Oh, how delightful it 
was to hear that fresh, pure voice, now like the warbler, now like 
the nightingale, one moment softened to a lingering tenderness 
that filled all eyes with tears, the next bursting into a thousand 
joyous notes, that seemed to fill the air with bright falling sparks 
of melody ! 

Everyone was affected. The Queen sobbed ; Coeur d’Or, pike 
in hand, wept like a baby ; and the King, to disguise his feelings, 
blew his nose so fiercely that next day all the ceilings of the palace 
had to be repaired. 

When silence was restored, the King said to the Queen in a low 
voice, — 

“ I should like to have a little ballad now ! ” 

“ What are you thinking of, my dear, — a ballad ? ” 

“ Well, you know, it’s the only sort of music that I like!” 

“ But, Sire ! — ” 

“I want a little ballad, you understand'? I will have a little 
ballad, — or I ’ll put myself into a temper ! ” 

“ Be calm, Sire,” answered the Queen, who treated her husband 
as if he were a spoilt child. Then, turning to the musical gentle- 
men, she said, — 

“ Gentlemen, the King wishes one of you to sing him a little 
ballad.” 

The great men looked at one another with wide eyes and open 
mouths, but not one of them moved. 

The King began to grow impatient, when Pierrot, scattering the 
crowd from his path, stepped up to the foot of the throne. 

“ Sire,” said he, bowing low, “ I composed yesterday a little 
ballad in honour of your Majesty. It is called, ‘ In the Light of the 
Moon ; ’ would you like to hear it 1 ” 

[ 21 ] 




FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 

“ I will hear it 1 ” said the King, — “ and this very minute, too ! ” 

At this Pierrot took his guitar, and sang, leaning his head 
towards his left shoulder. 

I do not know how to describe to you, dear children, the enthu- 
siasm with which this song was received. The King for joy fairly 
stamped on his throne, and all the court beat time to the chorus 
with their hands. 

For the rest of the night no one spoke of anything else but 
Pierrot’s song, and the great music-masters slipped out, one after 
another, to go and compose magnificent variations, arrangements, 
and elaborations of the tune. At midnight the King and Queen 
retired to their apartments and to bed, but not to sleep ; for, unable 
to settle to rest, they sat up in bed, both of them, and bellowed 
forth the famous ballad until late into the night. 


CHAPTER V— The Little Red Fish 

N EXT morning as the city clocks chimed seven, Lord Renar- 
dino paced up and down by the cross-roads, in the 
Green Forest, the place of meeting for the duel. He 
had brought with him an old General, who had been so 
much injured in battle that he had only one leg, one eye, and one 
arm left, — and they were not whole, either. This, however, did 
not prevent him from being a very jovial fellow, who twisted his 
moustache, and strutted by stiffly, whenever a pretty lady came 
near him. 

The two friends had marched thus for a couple of hours, when 
the old soldier stopped to look at his watch. 

“ A million, million pistols and pikes ! ” he cried ; “it is nine 
o’clock ! Is it possible that your little white-head is n’t coming, 
after all? I should have liked to know, I confess, whether he 
carries blood in his veins, or only flour.” 

“ You shall know soon,” answered the Prime Minister, grinding 
his teeth with hate, “for I see him yonder, coming.” And he 
grasped his sword-sheath fiercely. 

It was really Pierrot who approached, followed by a kitchen- 
scullion bearing under his apron two spits which he had taken that 

[ 22 ] 



. 




















WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 


morning from tlie Royal kitchen, and which were so long that the 
points trailed on the ground ten yards behind his heels. 

When the two parties had bowed to each other, the seconds 
tossed* for choice of weapons. 

“ Heads ! ” cried the General, as he spun a coin into the air. 

“ Tails ! ” cried the scullion. — “I ’ve won ! ” And putting the 
General’s coin in his pocket (quite by accident) he added, — 

“We have the choice of weapons.” 

And taking the two spits he gave one to Renardino and the 
other to Pierrot. 

The two fighters took their places facing each other, and the 
duel began. 

The Prime Minister, who was very clever at fencing, rushed 
upon his little foe, and thrust full at his breast, twice. But strange 
to relate, his spit bounced back, like a hammer from an anvil, and 
sparks flew from Pierrot’s coat. 

Renardino stopped amazed, and the other took the chance to 
give the Minister a violent kick on the shins. 

This was another surprise for the Premier, who jumped into the 
air, with a shout. 

“ Fiends and flames ! ” he cried, foaming with rage, and he 
sprang at Pierrot once more. The little man began to yield ground 
and use his nimble legs, but never ceased tormenting his enemy. 

Poor Renardino was quite lame by now, but the little man ran 
the greater danger, for in stepping backwards he came at last to 
a tree, and found himself hemmed in there. 

“ Ah, now I ’ve got you ! ” cried the Minister, who, seeing that 
his foe could not escape him, felt a cruel longing to pin him to the 
tree like a butterfly on a cork. 

“Trapped!” he cried, and with a final lunge made a most 
deadly thrust at Pierrot. 

But the little man had seen it coming, and escaped the blow by 
jumping over his enemy’s head. 

The Premier’s spit went deep into the heart of the tree. Quick, 
quick as he was, to try to withdraw the blade, Pierrot did not give 
him the time, but showered kicks upon Lord Renardino from behind. 

“Pardon! Pity! ’’cried the unlucky statesman at last. “I am 
dead ! ” and letting go the spit he fell down, exhausted. 

[ 23 ] 
















































































• 











• 
































FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 




& 



[ 24 ] 





> 






































I 










WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG «£f 

Like a generous foe the little man stopped at once, and held out 
his hand to the beaten man, who rose, shamefaced, amidst the loud 
laughter of the seconds. 

“Million millions of pistols and pikes!” cried the old General, 
“how he has played the drum with you, my poor friend! You 
won’t be able to sit down for a fortnight — and that ’s very awk- 
ward, for a man of state like you ! ” 

“ I ’ll go on before,” said the scullion, “ to order the bandages ! ” 

After several other quips of a like nature, the four took the road 
to the palace once more. 

All this time the court was in a state of great excitement. The 
King when he sat down to lunch, had noticed that the service of 
plate which the Queen gave him on his last birthday, was not in 
its usual place, and he called loudly for it. 

For an hour the gentleman-carvers, cooks and scullions had 
searched everywhere, moved everything, and turned the whole 
palace topsy-turvy, but had found nothing. 

“ Where is my service of plate 1 ” cried the King. “I must 
have my service of plate, immediately, or I ’ll hang you all, one 
after another, in the courtyard. Here . . . I’ve got it. Call my 
Cupbearer ! ” 

“ Sire,” ventured a scullion, “ the grand Cupbearer is out.” 

“ Fetch him, then ; living or dead, fetch him ! ” 

“ Sire, I am here,” said Pierrot, who entered at this moment, 
“ and here are the things you are asking for.” 

As he spoke the little man put his hand under his tunic and 
brought forth six great silver plates, which were in a terrible state, 
so thoroughly had they been battered. 

“ What does this mean % ” asked the King, crimson with anger. 

“ Your Majesty will remember,” answered Pierrot, “ that you. 
ordered me to have these plates stamped with your Royal initials.” 

“Yes, I remember,” said the King. 

“Well, this morning I toQk them out with me to leave them 
with the Royal silversmith, and for fear of robbers I placed them 
under my coat. On my way 1 suddenly recollected that your 
Prime Minister, Lord Renardino, was awaiting me in the Green 
Forest, to settle an affair of honour.” 

“ A duel ! ” cried the King, “ very good, Pierrot ! — 

[ 25 ] 


No, no, 

















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■ . 









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* 3 ? FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS *%* 

I mean — very bad indeed, Sir Cupbearer! You know that there 
is a Royal edict forbidding our subjects to fight duels.” 

“ Really, Sire, I did n’t know it.” 

“ Well, well, I ’ll let you off this time, but don’t do it again. Go 
on with your story.” 

“ I had n’t a minute to lose,” continued Pierrot, “ for it was long 
past the hour agreed upon ; so I hurried back to the palace, took 
a scullion with me as my second, — and in my haste forgot to put 
back the plate on the dresser.” 

“ And so you ’ve been fighting with my plate ? ” 

“ Alas, yes! ” said Pierrot, “ and Your Majesty can see that Lord 
Renardino strikes hard.” 

“ Oh, the villain ! ” cried the King, “ he shall pay me for this! ” 

“ I ’ve settled the score myself,” answered the little man, and he 
told the story of the duel in full. 

The King relished the tale heartily, and hastened to tell it to 
the Queen, who repeated it — in secret — to the First Maid-of- 
Honour, who whispered it to the Officer of the Guards, who mur- 
mured it in confidence to several of his friends, so that in an 
hour Lord Renardino’s misfortunes were the talk of the court and 
the city. 

It was even worse for him, when the King signed a paper mak- 
ing. Pierrot Prime Minister, and ordering that a new service of plate 
should be bought — at Renardino’s expense. 

“Well done! Well done!” cried the people when they heard 
the proclamation, and they hurried home to illuminate their houses. 

Whilst the whole city rejoiced over his disgrace, the ex-minister 
was feeling more dead than alive. He had got to the palace, and 
to bed, with the old General’s help, then he had taken a fever, and 
at the news of his disgrace, he had “ fallen out of the frying pan 
into the fire,” for it sent him off his head. Sometimes the wretched 
man thought he saw before him the ghosts of all the poor people 
he had ruined to enrich himself, — phantoms that bent over his 
bedside, and whispered low, very low, into his shrinking ear, — 

“ Give us back what you ’ve taken from us ! Give us it back ! ” 

Sometimes it was the old beggar-woman that he saw, asking 
alms with a -mocking smile, and showing him the well-filled purse 
which he had lost, six weeks before. 

[ 26 ] 




& WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG * 2 ? 

In vain he sat up in bed, with drawn face, and sunken eyes, to 
push the ghosts away ; his hands touched only the empty air, and 
a loud, mocking voice cried out from nowhere, — 

“ Thus do we punish bad men, and wicked hearts! ” 

The same visions came to him every night : every night he 
heard the same words — so true is it, my dears, that a conscience 
once awakened never sleeps. 

Some days later the King gave a splendid fete at his palace in 
honour of Pierrot, the new Minister. All the neighbouring; Kings 
were invited with the exception of Prince Azor, who was quietly 
continuing his preparations for war. 

Pierrot was at the height of his happiness. Seated at the table 
by the side of Fleur d’Amandier he made the most comical jests for 
her benefit, and only took pleasure in seeing her answering smiles. 
Nevertheless, a looker-on might have noticed that the beautiful 
Princess became suddenly serious when, stealing a glance at Coeur 
d’Or, who was standing behind her chair, she saw him change 
colour, and gnaw spitefully at the wood of his pike, which was no 
little damaged accordingly. 

After dinner the King took leave of his guests, and proposed 
to take the Queen for a trip on the lake. They could not have 
chosen a better time : the sky was clear, the air warm, the water 
calm. Everywhere the plains were turning green ; the trees were 
finding their voices ; — it was a real spring evening. 

The Royal family reached the lake-side, and embarked in a little 
boat which they found moored to the shore. 

“You may sit near to us,” said the King to Pierrot, who had 
kept a respectful distance. 

Pierrot did not need to be told twice. He seated himself near 
the rudder, loosed the rope, and the boat, graceful as a swan that 
shakes out its wings, opened its sails to the breeze, and launched 
itself on the waters of the lake, without a sound or ripple to mark 
its course. 

Our illustrious personages had sailed on thus for a half-hour or 
so, when suddenly the King cried,' — 

“ Reef, reef the sail, my good Pierrot, I see a little fish down 
there, close to the ship. It is swimming after us, for all the world 
as if it had something to tell us.” 

[ 27 ] 



•ST FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 

It was, as the King had said, a pretty red fish, bright and alert, 
which was beating, beating the water with its little fins, so as to 
overtake the Royal skiff — and it did not take it long, I assure you, 
at the rate it was going. 

Fleur d’Amandier who saw the fish draw nigh, thought that it 
was perhaps hungry, and threw it some crumbs from a cake which 
she held in her hand, saying in the softest possible tones, so as not 
to frighten the creature, — 

“ Eat, eat, little fish ! ” 

And the fish sprang out of the water, and wagged its ruddy- 
brown tail gently, by way of thanks. 

At this moment the King said to Pierrot in a low tone, — 

“ Friend Pierrot, take the net, and be ready to throw it, as soon 
as I give the word. T have taken a fancy to eat that little red fish 
for my supper.” 

But the little red fish, who had heard every word, kept at a safe 
distance, and putting his head out of the water, cried out, to the 
great astonishment of the listeners, who had never known a fish 
to speak, — 

“ King of Bohemia, great misfortunes are in store for you, you 
have enemies who plan your downfall in secret. I had come 
to-night, to save you ; but the wicked deed that you have planned 
against a fish that never did you any harm, tells me that you are 
no better than other men, and I leave you to your fate. But you, 
Fleur d’Amandier, so fair and so kind, whatever happens, trust in 
me ; I will watch over you.” 

Then, imitating the King’s voice, the little fish added, — 

“ Throw the net, Pierrot ! ” 

Pierrot, who only awaited the word, threw the net into the 
water. I don’t know how it happened, but suddenly the boat 
capsized and all the crew were struggling for their lives in the 
water. 

Pierrot, who was an excellent swimmer, soon came to the top 
again. His first thought was to look for Fleur d’Amandier and 
as he espied a fair form floundering beneath the water, he seized 
her by the hair and drew her ashore in less time than it takes to 
tell it. 

“Saved! saved!” he cried, jumping for joy. He was dreaming 

[ 28 ] 



WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 




the most golden day-dreams, and already saw himself the King’s 
son-in-law, when, looking more closely, Pierrot discovered that 


it was the Queen whom he had 
rescued. 

Bitterly disappointed, he was 
about to plunge once more into 
the lake, when he saw Coeur d’Or 
swimming ashore, carefully keep- 
ing Fleur d’Amandier’s beautiful 
head above the water as he came 
along. 

“ Cceur d’Or! Coeur d’Or here! 
Is it possible ?” he cried. And in 
his surprise he nearly fell back- 
wards across the swooning Queen, 
whom he had touched with his foot. 

How had the groom found his 
way there ? You are in a hurry 
to know, I can tell. 

He was there, because — be- 
cause Fleur d’Amandier was there. 
When you chance to be very ill, 
or have some great sorrow of the 
heart, is not your mother always 
there, before any one else, to help 
and console you? Yes, that is so, 
isn’t it? Well, that is why Coeur 
d’Or was on the shores of the lake 
when the boat upset, and how he 
came to save the Princess’s life. 

The King, meanwhile, had been 
punished for his would-be wicked- 
ness. He had been taken in the 
net thrown out by Pierrot, and 
after having drunk, very unwill- 
ingly, an enormous quantity of 
water, he managed to get astride 
the boat’s keel, and there he puffed 



“ Arrived at the top of the tower ” 


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and yelled and yelled and puffed as if he were drowning. And 
there he would be still, if Coeur d’Or had not come to his rescue. 

On their return to the palace the shipwrecked ones changed 
their clothes, and then the King summoned his Council. 

Pierrot already Prime Minister, was named Lord High Admiral 
of the Kingdom, and Coeur d’Or was made an officer in the army. 

After the ceremonies, which took up a lot of time, the King 
dismissed his court, took his candle and went up to his tower, liis 
face bearing a very thoughtful expression. 

Arrived at the top of the tower', he applied his right eye to a 
telescope and searched the horizon, at every point of the compass. 

It was a long task. At last he completed his survey, and said 
to himself, — 

“ I ’ve ‘ looked out,’ in every sense, and I can see nothing to 
worry about — absolutely nothing. That little fish is a cunning 
little creature, and wants to make fun of me.” 

So he went downstairs again, with a lighter heart, returned to 
his bedroom, lay down by his Queen, and slept loud enough to 
wake the dead. 


CHAPTER VI — “ For the Love of Heaven y 
open the Door!” 

A S soon as he came into power as Minister, Pierrot busied 
himself with new laws for the happiness of the people, 
who until then had been so dull they did not know how 
to bear it. He built an open-air theatre in the market- 
place, where the fairs were held, and the actors were no other than 
little marionettes, who walked and talked and acted so wonderfully 
that the good folk, who could not see the strings by which they 
were worked, swore by heaven and earth that they were living 
creatures. He it was who founded the Carnival and all its fun, 
the Shrove-tide customs, and the masked balls, and (to keep things 
jolly as long as possible) he made Lent as late in the year as 
he could. 

Never had the kingdom been so contented. All Bohemia was 

[ 30 ] 




^ WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

one holiday, one great shout of laughter ; the name of Pierrot was 
on every lip, and the tune of “ By the Light of the Moon ” in every 
throat. 

So much popularity began even to overshadow the King’s, who 
was jealous (as a good King ought to be) for the love of his people ; 
but the one who hated Pierrot most was my Lord Renardino, who 
had now got better of his wounds, and would pace up and down his 
room, scowling fiercely to himself and planning the most wicked 
plots. Suddenly his face broke into a horrible smile. 

“Ah!” he cried aloud, “I have him now, for sure! He won’t 
escape me, this time ! ” 

And he ran off to the King’s room. 

“ Tap ! tap ! ” he went at the door. 

“ Come in ! ” cried the King, — u Oh, it ’s you, Lord Albert ! 
Pray sit down! — What, you can sit down? You’re much better, 
then ! ” 

“ Sire, let us not talk of me — it is of you I am thinking,” said 
the other in a terrifying voice. “ Great misfortunes are in store 
for you — ” 

The King turned pale. He remembered what the little red fish 
had said, and they were the very same words. 

“ Well, what is it ? ” he stammered. 

“This,” answered Renardino. “ Pierrot, your Prime Minister is 
plotting against you, and plans to come into your study to-night 
at eight, pretending to talk with you, as is his custom, but in truth, 
he means to strangle you.” 

“ Strangle me ! ” cried the King, putting his hand to his throat. 

“Nothing less, — strangle you, straightaway,” repeated the other 
curtly. “ But don’t be alarmed : I will save you. Only, trust the 
guarding of the palace to me for to-day, and whatever happens, — 
whatever noise you hear in your ante-chamber to-night, — don’t 
open the door for anybody ! ” 

“ I ’ll take good care of that,” answered the King. 

An hour later Renardino and the captain of the King’s guards 
were pacing up and down the palace-gardens, talking in low voices. 

“ Strange !” said the Captain. “And you tell me it is by the 
King’s command ? ” 

“ Here is the order, written by his own hand.” 

C 31 ] 






FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 




“ Very good, my lord ; I shall obey.” 

Hidden behind a clump of shrubbery a man was leaning on his 
spade and listening with all his ears. It was the chief gardener — 
our old friend the woodcutter. 

When the two plotters had turned round the corner of the path 
and passed out of sight, he found breath. 

“ Oh, the rogues ! ” he cried, “ the villains, to want to murder 
my poor little Pierrot ! I ’ll make haste to warn him.” 

And he set off for the palace at full speed. 

Night came on, and eight sounded from the great city clock, 
when Pierrot with a great bundle of papers under his arm, left his 
own room, humming a tune. 

Renardino, who heard him, half-opened his door and watched 
his victim going down the stairs which led to the King’s study. 

“Sing, my fine fellow, sing!” he said to himself, rubbing his 
hands in glee, — “ soon you ’ll dance ! ” 

And he closed his door noiselessly. 

But no sooner had he reached the foot of the staircase, than 
Pierrot blew out his candle, and wrapped himself in a cloak which 
he took from his bundle, and which was the colour of the wall 
where he stood. Then he stepped aside and hid himself in the 
shadow by the door of the ante-chamber. 

“ Now, let ’s wait ! ” he said. And he stood there invisible, and 
as still as a statue. 

The clocks chimed half-past eight — and then nine — 

Voices began to whisper in the ante-room. 

“ It ’s nine already ” said one ; “ he won’t come ! ” 

‘ Ssh ! ” answered another, “ I hear a noise ! ” 

And the voices ceased. 

It was quite true. The noise was made by Renardino himself, 
who crept cautiously out of his room. 

“Nine o’clock!” he said to himself; “let us see whether the 
trick has come off.” 

He crept down the stairs, stole on tiptoe to the ante-chamber 
door, and holding his breath, listened intently. 

There was perfect silence. 

“ They ’ve certainly killed him,” he said with a chuckle. “ So 
much the better ! ” 


[ 32 ] 




*2E? WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG «?? 

Renardino raised the latch softly, half-opened the door, ventured 
his head inside — then an arm — then a leg; — and was just going 
to put in the whole of his body, when Pierrot, darting from his 
hiding-place, pushed him with all his might into the middle of 
the room, and closed the door on him. 

Then arose a frightful babel of cries and blows and oaths. The 
soldiers, who had been well paid, meant to earn their money fully. 

“Help! Help! Murder!” cried Renardino. “Sire, open the 
door ! Open the door, for the love of Heaven ! ” 

But the King, who had been forewarned, fastened all the bolts, 
and worked like a nigger to barricade the door. 

It would have been all up with the ex-Premier if the Queen, who 
had been attracted by the noise, had not entered, in her night-dress 
and with a lighted candle, to see what was the matter. At the 
sight of her the frightened guards fled at once, and his lordship, 
covered with bruises and filled with shame, limped away to his 
own room, whence he could hear Pierrot singing in a high, mocking 
voice, 

“ Open the door, 

For the love of Heaven ! ” 


CHAPTER VII — “ The April Fish ” 

I T was the First of April. The King, who had spent the night 
looking through the .key-hole of his study door, had caught 
cold — such a cold that next morning he trembled like a leaf, 
and sneezed enough to break the windows. He was tapping 
his feet against the floor of his throne, to warm himself, when sud- 
denly he caught sight of someone sitting opposite to him, — a man 
with a pale, villainous face, who looked across at him, and mimicked 
his actions. 

At the sight of this ghost the poor monarch uttered a cry of 
terror, and clapped his hand to his sword. 

The shade did the same. 

Alas, my dear children, the miserable monarch had n’t recognised 
his own face in the glass, and you would have been deceived your- 
selves, so white had his hair grown in the night, so red were his 
eyes, so swollen was his nose ! 

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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 




Just at this moment there was a knock at the door. 

“ Open, sire, it is I,” cried a voice, which the King knew to be 
Renardino’s. 

Walking fearfully backward so as to keep his eye on the 
phantom, the King pulled the bobbin and opened the door. 

“ Draw your sword, my lord ! ” he said in a low voice to the 
newcomer, as he pointed his own towards the threatening intruder 
in the mirror, who copied his movement faithfully. “It’s another 
plotter ! Draw ! ” 

A wicked smile hovered about Renardino’s thin lips : he thought 
the King had gone mad. 

“ Sire, be calm,” he said, “ we are alone ! ” 

“ What ! ” cried the King, “ alone! What about that ugly-look- 
ing fellow, standing there before me, with a sword in his hand % ” 

“ With all respect, sire — it ’s yourself! ” 

“What! That man with the white hair, red eyes, and violet 
nose, who sneezes enough to frighten one’s wits away h ” 

“It is your Majesty, I repeat — and the proof is, that you are 
sneezing again.” 

It was only too true. Another storm was raging in the King’s 
head, and there was no longer any mistaking the truth. 

“Oh, good gracious!” cried the poor King, when the tempest 
was over, “ it was I, then ! That face ! — those eyes ! — that nose ! ” 

And dropping his sword, he covered his face with his hands. 

“Lord Albert,” he said presently, in a solemn voice, “whatever 
happens in future, I forbid you to sp£uk to me of plots.” 

There was a moment’s silence.. Renardino was bothered. He 
wished to try another ruse, and did not know how to begin. 

“ Sire,” he said at last, in a careless tone, and flicking the dust 
off' his coat with the tips of his fingers as he spoke, “do you like 
turbot h ” 

“ Do I like turbot ! ” cried the King, whose eyes shone with 
pleasure. “ Ah, my lord, can you ask me ! ” 

“ I guessed as much, your Majesty,” answered the other, “ for 
they are going to serve you one for supper. You will enjoy it, 
no doubt 'l ” 

The King was so full of the pleasure this news gave him, that 
he could only answer by a nod of the head. 

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«S£ WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

“ So much the worse ! ” said Renardino. 

“ Why so much the worse ? ” 

“Oh, after Your Majesty’s express command, I dare not tell Your 
Majesty why — ” 

“ Speak, speak, I order you ! ” 

“ Well — ” 

“ Well? ” 

“ The turbot is poisoned.” 

At these words the King gave a cry of horror and his legs gave 
way beneath him. But a moment later he recovered himself, and 
leaning over towards the ex-Premier, he whispered in his ear, — 

“ I was not master of myself, just now, at first — but — I feared 
it, all along ! ” 

“What! ’’cried Renardino taken aback. “You know who has 
poisoned the turbot ? ” 

“Yes, I know,” said the King, “but don’t speak so loud — he 
has such a quick ear, he might overhear what we say.” 

“ Oh, that ’s all right, there ’s nothing to fear on that score. I 
have just seen him cross the courtyard, to visit the Queen’s 
apartments.” 

“ You’ve s-s-seen him cross the c-c-courtyard ? ” asked the King, 
who had suddenly be^un to stammer. “ And you ’re sure it ’s he ? ” 

« Himself! ” 

“ The little red fish ? ” 

- “ The little red fish ? No, Sire, no — your Premier, Pierrot.” 

“ Pierrot ! ” 

“ What ? Then it was n’t Pierrot you suspected ? ” 

“ Oh, yes, yes, yes ! ” answered the King hurriedly, for he did 
not wish Renardino to doubt his cleverness. “ And yet, after what 
happened last night in my ante-chamber, I should have thought — ” 
“ That he was dead ? Oh, make no mistake, Sire, thanks to the 
Queen’s orders he still lives.” 

“ The Queen ! And what business has the Queen to meddle 
with affairs of state ? ” 

“ Ah, ah! ” said Renardino, with a sneering laugh, “ that’s just 
it! What! Your Majesty doesn’t know what is an open secret 
all through the land of Bohemia? — that the Queen loves Pierrot 
and wishes to marry him ? ” 


[ 35 ] 



FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 




“ To marry him ? ” cried the King. “ And what about me 1 ” 

“ Oh, you, Sire, — you are to have turbot for supper to-night ! ” 

“By my beard!” answered His Majesty, whose natural good 
sense revolted at the slanders brought by Renardino, “ what you 
tell me is horrible, and I can’t believe it. What proofs have you ? ” 

“ Proofs ! You ask me for proofs ? ” 

“ Certainly.” 

“ Well, then, listen to me, and answer. Who upset the Royal 
skiff last week in the lake ? ” 

“Ah, that was Pierrot — I can’t say what isn’t true — it was 
Pierrot.” 

“ Very good. But at least he rescued you when you were 
struggling in the water ? ” 

“You ask me whether he rescued me or not ?” answered the 
King, racking his brains to remember, “ no, I think not. But wait 
— I know now — far from saving me, it was he who threw the net 
over my head, and if it hadn’t been for Coeur d’Or, who happened 
to be on the spot, I should certainly have been drowned.” 

“ Then, you see that Pierrot wished to drown you.” 

“ I don’t say that,” answered the King — “ and yet — ” 

“ Yet he threw the net over your head, and threw himself into 
the water to save the Queen.” 

At this artful comparison a cloud passed over the King’s face. 

“ Ah, you see it all clear enough now ! ” cried Renardino. 
“ Well, run to the Queen’s rooms, where Pierrot has just gone. 
Listen at the door for a minute, and you will soon know as much 
as all the rest of us.” 

The King took Renardino at his word, and rushed out of the 
study. 

His Royal partner was at that moment so busy attending to her 
beloved aviary that she never noticed the King, who slipped in by 
the private door, and hid himself, as well as he could for his stout- 
ness, behind a thick velvet curtain. 

Having filled all the little crystal drinking-bowls with clear 
water, and baited the golden cords that hung from the roof of 
the cage with the most appetising dainties, Her Majesty amused 
herself by watching in silence the swarms of charming birds as they 
flew here, darted there, carrying away the delicious morsels, happy, 

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WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG *?* 

clamorous, and busy as a hive of bees. Suddenly a sharp cry set 
the Queen trembling. 

“ It is he ! ” she cried joyfully, and she ran out upon the balcony 
to call to the little lost pet, who had of late taken to coming every 
day to twitter beneath his mistress’s window. 

“ Come here ! ” she cried, -breaking in her hand a big biscuit and 
scattering the crumbs upon the balcony. “ Come, come, my little 
Pierrot ! ” 

The King in his hiding-place could not help giving a dull groan 
as he heard these tender words. The Queen looked round startled, 
and perceived Pierrot himself, who had just entered and was bowing 
low before her. 

“I have the honour to tell Your Majesty,” he said, “ that a fisher 
has just brought to the palace a magnificent turbot weighing over 
two hundred pounds.” 

“ Good, Monsieur Pierrot,” answered Her Majesty. “ Send it to 
the cook and let it be dressed for the King’s supper. You know it 
is a favourite dish of his.” 

Pierrot bowed and retired ; the Queen darted out once more 
upon the balcony, but the little bird had disappeared. 

Meanwhile the King had returned to his study in a terrible state 
of mind. 

“ My lord,” he said, “ I know all ; but, by my crown ! they shall 
both die. To spoil such a splendid dish — a turbot that weighs over 
two hundred pounds — oh, the wickedness of it ! Send for all the 
chemists in the city, — those who are known to be the cleverest of 
their kind, — and let the fish be sent tn me.” 

When the chemists, twenty in number, had gathered together in 
the Royal study in obedience to his summons, the King said : — 

“ Gentlemen, please look carefully at the turbot before you, and 
let me know what kind of poison there is in it.” 

“ It is poisoned ? ” they all cried together. 

“ Yes, it is poisoned.” 

“ Oh, very good ! ” answered the doctors, and fell to work 
straightway. 

Whilst they were examining the fish Renardino was in a great 
•state of uneasiness. Pie feared that the trick which he had thought 
to play on Pierrot would surelv be found out; What, then, was his 

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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS *£ 

surprise and joy, when the learned men, having finished their task, 
announced that the turbot proved to have been poisoned in no less 
than twenty different ways ! 

The twenty chemists had each found a different poison ! 

Having given their opinion the men of science bowed and 
trooped out very solemnly, one after another. 

Two hours later Renardino sent with great pomp to Pierrot a 
state paper signed by the King, ordering him to pack up immedi- 
ately, and set off to the court of Prince Azor, to arrange a peace 
between the two countries. It was really a sentence of death. 

The same day the Queen was arrested, and in spite of her 
. daughter’s tears was carried away, strongly guarded, to an old tower- 
at the further end of the city. 

Now, all this was due to Renardino’s wickedness. He had 
several times in a morning heard the Queen call to her little bird, 
and he had made use of this fact to excite the King’s jealousy, 
already aroused by the affair of the capsized boat. 

The poisoned turbot was a tale of the ex-Minister’s own inven- 
tion, but the fable was ever afterwards celebrated in the country, 
and acted each year on the First of April under the well-known 
name of “ April fish ! ” 1 

So you are warned, my dear little readers, — don’t place any 
trust in the Renardinos of the world. 


CHAPTER Fill — “My Candle is out: 

I have no more Eight!” 

P IERROT read the Royal message and sat down to think it 
over. It was clear that in sending him to Azor’s court they 
meant him to come to harm. 

“ But, bah ! ” he cried, snapping his fingers, “ it will be 
all right ! ” And he went to his dressing-room, singing gaily, and 
took over two hours to dress, which was a thing he never did. 

Before leaving Bohemia he wanted to take leave of the King, but 
His Majesty shut his door in the little man’s face, as one does with 

1 The French way of saying “April fool.” 

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WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG «*? 

all courtiers in disgrace. He went to the Princess’s rooms .so as 
to carry away in his heart at least the echo of her adorable voice. 

“ Stand back ! ” cried Cceur D’Or, who was on guard, and who 
set his pike point at the little man’s breast. “You can’t pass here ! ” 

So poor little Pierrot was forced to go away. 

He went out into the palace gardens and tenderly embraced the 
good woodcutter and his wife, who with tears in their eyes packed 
him a basket filled to the brim with all good things to eat. 

“ Good luck, Sir Ambassador ! ” cried Renardino to Pierrot. He 
was leaning from one of the palace windows watching the little mail’s 
departure. “ A thousand compliments to the Prince ! ” 

“ I will not fail to deliver them, Sir Minister,” answered Pierrot, 
who would not be behindhand in politeness. 

Then turning on his heel he marched away stoutly enough, 
with his basket on his arm. 

It would weary you, dear readers, to tell you of the many halts 
our hero made by the wayside. Every time he came to a green 
patch of grass he sat himself down cross-legged, spread a snow- 
white napkin out before him, and set out an enormous pie that 
made one’s mouth water to look at, with a bottle of Hungary wine 
on either side of it. He ate and drank so heartily that when he was 
only half way through his journey all his food was eaten — the 
basket was empty ! 

“Now,” he said to himself, “we must hurry! ” And he marched 
forward with sncli doughty strides that he arrived at Prince Azor’s 
court that night. 

He came at an unlucky time, for the whole palace was topsy- 
turvy. The Prince had swallowed a fish-bone at supper, and in his 
fury had just strangled with his own hands a famous doctor who had 
failed to take it out of his throat. 

Next, as the doctor’s death had not relieved his pain to any 
extent, the Prince thought of another and more useful plan. This 
was, to make his Prime Minister swallow a fish-bone just like 
the one that was troubling him, and to try on his Excellency’s 
throat all the ways that the doctors could think of to get it out 
again. 

He was just going to send for the Minister when the officer on 
guard ushered Pierrot into the room. 

[ 39 ] 



•S? FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS & 

“ Who are you ? ” asked Azor, who was obliged by the bone to 
speak through his nose, “ who are you who dare to come before 
me ? ” 

“ I am Pierrot/’ answered our hero, “Ambassador of His Majesty 
the King of Bohemia, and I have been sent to arrange a peace with 
Your Highness. ” 

“ By my hump ! ” cried the Prince, “ you could n’t have come at 
a better moment ! After all, it had much better be you than my 
Prime Minister! Sit down at that table — good! Now, eat that 
fish that you see there, and above all, take care to swallow all the 
fish-bones — all, do you hear 1 — or I ’ll have . you killed like a 
dog ! ” 

Pierrot, who was very hungry, did not wait to be bidden twice. 
He set to work with such an appetite that an enormous pike which 
had covered the whole table disappeared in the twinkling of an eye 
as if by magic. There remained nothing but the backbone. Pierrot, 
raising his sleeved arm, took the bone ’twixt finger and thumb, put it 
gingerly into his mouth, and then, with a big gulp and a wry face 
— swallowed it whole ! 

“ Prince,” he said, with the air of a conjurer who has just caused 
his last ball to disappear, “it is done ! ” 

“ Impossible ! ” cried Azor, who had watched the whole affair 
closely. “ Come here — open your mouth! Prodigious! ” he added, 
as he took a light and searched every nook and corner of Pierrot’s 
mouth. “ It has gone ! By Jove, I ’ll try it !” 

Saying which he took a deep breath, gave a great gulp and a 
horrible grimace — and the bone passed down out of his gullet. 

“Saved!” he cried, “I’m saved! Ah, my little friend, you’ve 
just done me a great service! To show my gratitude, I’ll let you 
choose whatever death you like best. You see, I am a good sort ot 
a Prince ! ” 

“ Sire,” answered Pierrot, “ I did not expect anything less of 
your kindness, but Your Highness would do best to choose yourself. 

I leave it to you entirely.” 

“ Ah, my little man, you jest with me, do you ” answered Azor. 
“Very good, then; I think that after having seen you eat with such 
gusto just now, I should like to see you die of hunger.” 

In spite of the control that our hero kept over himself, he could 

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^ WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

not help giving a start as he heard these words. “To die of hun- 
ger ! ” he said to himself ; “ I had n’t thought of that ! ” 

He would perhaps have taken back his rash words if the Prince 
had not at that moment ordered the guards to seize the prisoner and 
throw him into one of the dungeons of the castle. 

This, my dear children, was a frightful prison, where no air 1 or 
light could come, except through a very narrow hole, strongly barred, 
and so high up that the wretched little captive could not see the least 
patch or corner of sky. There was nothing in the way of furniture 
but a vile straw-bed, a stool, an earthen jar, and an iron candle-stick 
which the gaoler filled night and morning. 

When the door of his cell was closed upon him Pierrot, weary 
with his long walk, lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. 

Next morning at daybreak a creaking of hinges and clanking of 
keys made him wake and sit up suddenly. It was the rusty door 
opening, and the gaoler who entered. 

“ Here, comrade,” he said, “ here ’s a jug of fresh water that I ’ve 
just drawn from the fountain. I need n’t give you another candle, 
because you have n’t even lighted the one I left you yesterday.” 

Pierrot struck his forehead, as a man does when an idea comes 
to him, but he never said a word. 

The gaoler went out and fastened the door with three bolts. 
The sound of his footsteps had barely died away when Pierrot 
sprang from his pallet, seized greedily on the candle, and ate it, 
tallow, wick and all. 

This done he took his stool, placed it in the pale ray of light that 
struggled into the cell through the air-hole, and began to carve a 
charming toy out of a piece of wood, with a penknife he carried. 
By night the pioce of wood had become a little dancing-man, who 
frisked his arms and legs about in a delightful fashion, when you 
pulled a string. 

“By Jupiter, but that’s pretty!” cried the warder, when he 
came that evening. His fat jovial face reddened like a peony with 
pleasure as he saw the toy. “You must really give me that, com- 
rade, to amuse my little boy with.” 

“ Willingly,” answered Pierrot, “ and I could make him lots more 
like this, — better ones even, — if I could only have more light. 
But this cell is so dark — ” 


[ 41 ] 







•S’ FAIRY TALES BY BUM AS 

“ That sha’n’t hinder you, prisoner,” answered the other, who 
naturally thought Pierrot only wanted them to burn ; “ I ’ll bring 
you candles enough, so that your cell shall be as light as day.” 

Five minutes later Pierrot had five or six candles left in his cell, 
and you can guess now, as well as I can, what he did with them ! 
I will only add that whenever his strange larder was empty, the 
prisoner went to the door and sang through the bars, — 

“ My candle ’s gone out, 

I have no more light ! ” 

And the turnkey would run as fast as his legs could cany him 
to renew his captive’s candles. 

After a fortnight of this life the number of toys which Pierrot had 
carved was so great that the gaoler began to riiake money by them, 
and rented a shop in the city where all the little urchins stood gap- 
ing from morning till night, never being able to open their eyes wide 
enough to admire such beautiful toys. 

But there came a day when the Prince thought he would like to 
see with his own eyes how his prisoner was getting on. 

He took a torch and went down into the cell, and nearly fell 
backward with astonishment to see his captive so full of life and 
health. 

“ What, you scamp ! Aren’t you dead] ” 

“ I ’m very well, thank you, Heaven be praised ! ” answered 
Pierrot. 

“ Ah, you ’re very well, thank you,” repeated Azor in a threaten- 
ing tone. “ Very good. We ’ll have a laugh together, you and I.” 

And he strode out of the cell. 

Now I ought to tell you, my dear children, that the Prince had 
been reading a book the night before called “The Adventures of the 
Clever Princess,” a very pretty fairy story, and it had made him 
laugh till he cracked his sides, by telling of a horrible punishment 
which befell one of the story-people. He had even laughed so much 
that the fish-bone had come back into his throat. Ever since he had 
read the story he bad neither eaten nor slept, so impatient was he to 
try the same sort of death on somebody. 

Pierrot was not dead : here was the very chance he wanted ! 

Immediately he gave orders that a barrel should be made, brist- 
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WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 






ling inside with spikes as sharp as needles, and that it should be 
carried to the top of a high mountain which rose up outside the city 
gates. 

At the same time Pierrot was taken out of his cell and led to the 
top of the mountain also, and there the executioner, taking him by 
the hand, begged him — oh, so politely ! — to kindly step inside the 
barrel. 

“He will! He won’t!” cried the crowd, who had hurried there 
in thousands to see the strange sight. 

Pierrot entered. 

When all was ready Azor gave the signal, and the executioner 
pushed the barrel down the mountain slope. 

At the sight of this human avalanche, which whirled downward 
with terrible swiftness, bounding from rock to rock, and carrying 
along with it all that it met on its way, a mournful silence fell upc n 
the crowd. It was broken only by the sobs and tears of the little 
children, who were heartbroken to think of such a sad end to the 
little white man who made them all those pretty toys. 

But what was everyone’s surprise, when the barrel reached the 
foot of the mountain and broke in two, to see Pierrot jump out, fully 
armed, as Minerva sprang from the head of Jupiter ! 

Yes, my dears, in armour from head to foot, in a coat of mail of 
the finest steel, and as fully equipped as a knight about to fight in the 
tourney ! It was an under-garment which he had thought it best to 
wear, when sent on his errand to Azor’s court. As for his tunic, not 
a scrap of it was left upon him : it hung in shreds from the tips of 
the barrel-spikes. 

“ Hurrah ! Hurrah ! ” cried the people, as soon as their breath 
returned. 

“Down with Prince Azor!” cried the children, who stamped 
their feet and clapped their hands, so pleased were they to see their 
dear Pierrot still alive. 

All this time Azor was making a furious fuss, and sent men-at- 
arms to seize upon Pierrot. He would greatly have liked to put 
him through the ordeal again, but the barrel was smashed and the 
people murmured so loudly that to avoid a riot His Highness found 
it best to get back into the castle without delay. 

Pierrot was taken back to his prison, and in less than an hour 
[ 43 ] 






FAIRY TALES BY L> U M A S 


«9r 


the gaoler brought him a costume all complete, and just like his old 
one, which the children of the town had put their pocket money 
together to buy him. Pierrot was so touched 
by this mark of affection that the tears came to 
his eyes. He blessed the little ones, in his heart, 
and vowed to love them all his life. 

He had scarcely fastened the last button of his 
new clothes when a man entered the cell and 
beckoned to him to follow. It was the execu- 
tioner again. 

Pierrot answered by a nod that he was ready 
to obey ; and the two set out to thread the dark 
underground passages of the castle. They went 
up and down countless stone steps, and came out 
at length into a courtyard in the middle of which 
was a sunken space like a great well. Down in 
this pit was a great white bear, which was known 
for fifty miles around for its savage nature. 

When the two reached the iron railing which 
ran round the well-top, the executioner drew a 
-rope-ladder from his pocket, tied it firmly to the 
ironwork, and signed to Pierrot to go down. 
Pierrot went down. 

The bear was sleeping soundly and did not 
hear him, but the scent of fresh food which came 
to his nostrils at length disturbed his sleep. He 
raised his head heavily, and sniffed. 

Suddenly his eyes opened wide, and a sombre 
1/ light burned and flashed in them. Pierrot had just 
alighted on the ground, and the rope-ladder had 
been withdrawn. 

Instead of pouncing upon his prey, however, 
as an unskilful beast would have done, the 
bear pretended not to see him. He rose 
slowly, stretched his languid limbs one after 
the other; and then, standing on his hind- 
legs, advanced softly, softly — swaying his 
head slightly from side to side, and assuming 
[ 44 ] 




“ Greeting to Prince 
Azov ! ” 






















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WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 


the most innocent appearance. He looked to be so simple, so 
good-natured, that if you had seen him, my dear children, you would 
most certainly have curtseyed to him out of very politeness. 

But Pierrot, who knew bears by 'heart, was not taken in by this 
clever acting : he lay stretched out on the ground, held his breath, 
and pretended to be dead. 

The bear approached, and for some moments looked down sus- 
piciously at this body which lay so still on the ground before him. 
He sniffed at it, and turned it over, and back again ; and then, 
believing it to be dead, he turned away disgusted, and went back 
to his den and to sleep,- at the same slow, easy pace. 

When he was fast asleep Pierrot rose quietly, drew near the 
beast on tiptoe, and drawing his little knife from his pocket, he 
very neatly cut off its head before the poor bear had time to awake 
Then he lit a big fire with straw, and cut up and roasted delicious 
bear steaks, off which he dined that night and for some days follow- 
ing, without interruption. 

But one day, a week later, the Prince ran to the pit and looked 
down at his fierce pet. 

“Well done, my pretty fellow!” he cried to the bear, which 
ambled to and fro below him. “ I was sure you would only make 
a mouthful of him ! ” 

“Greeting to Prince Azor!” answered the bear, which removed 
its head, and showed the startled visitor the floury face of Pierrot 
himself. 

“ Confound it ! ” yelled the Prince, “ it ’s not the bear that has 
eaten the man, it ’s the man who ’s eaten the bear ! ” 


CH APT E R IX — Renardino ’ s Treason 


rpiiE state of affairs between the Prince and Pierrot was 
becoming more ridiculous every hour. 

B “ I must finish him to-day with my own hand,” thought 

the hunchback, when he awoke the next morning, “ or 1 
shall lose the name of Azor.” 

So he armed himself with a magnificent Turkish scimitar which 
had been presented to him by the Sultan Mustapha, sent for Pierrot, 

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* 5 ? FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS & 

forced him to his knees, and whirling the sword above his head, 
dealt a terrible blow at Ins' victim’s neck. 

The head disappeared. 

When he saw how clever he had been the Prince could not 
resist a smile of pride, and leaning on his weapon, the other hand 
placed proudly on his hip, he stood for a long time, posing before 
his soldiers. 

“Will he soon be finished'?” muttered the executioner to him- 
self, for this sort of play was tiring him. “ Sire,” he went on aloud, 
“ excuse me if 1 disturb you, but I should like to point out to you 
that the prisoner’s head has disappeared.” 

“ Ods bodikins, man, I know that ! ” answered the Prince, with a 
graceful sweep of his scimitar. 

“ But what perhaps you don’t know, is, that we can’t find it 
anywhere ! ” 

“ Come, come, you ’re joking with me ! ” And quitting his heroic 
attitude, the Prince himself searched the room, but found nothing. 

Suddenly his red hair stood on end all over his head, and his 
eyes grew fixed with terror. He had just seen something very like 
a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth, which were slowly appearing 
out of the dead man’s shoulders, and quietly taking their proper 
place on his . body. It was the head for which he had been looking 
— the same head that he thought he had cut off! But Pierrot, by 
a trick which he alone knew, had craftily withdrawn his head into 
the shelter of his jacket, and kept it there, safe and sound. 

At the sight of this miracle, Azor felt that he had shown himself 
very stupid, and he was so .ashamed that he let the scimitar fall from 
his grasp, and it snapped in two on the stones, for it was pure steel. 

“ Sire,” said the executioner, “ do you really wish this man to 
die 1 ? Yes? Well, then, let me do it, and I’ll be hanged if he 
escapes this time ! ” 

“ It ’s a bargain, my friend ! ” said Pierrot, shaking hands on it. 

Immediately a gibbet was set up in the castle courtyard, and 
Pierrot was taken up to the platform, which at a signal was to give 
way beneath his feet. 

When all was prepared the hangman mounted the ladder, rope 
in hand. Once on the planks he made a running noose and 
stooped down to slip it over his victim’s neck. 

[ 46 ] 



WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 


«■ 


But just when the man least expected it, Pierrot took him by the 
waist, and tickled him so artfully in the ribs that the poor wretch, 
seized with a silly fit of laughing, let go the rope in his helpless 
mirth. 

Quick as lightning Pierrot seized upon it, slipped it neatly 
round the other’s neck,' kicked away the ladder, tipped over the 
plank, and the laughing hangman found himself hanged ! 

“ Off you go ! ” cried Pierrot. “ You ’ve lost, old fellow ! ” 

At this unexpected end to the affair, the Prince foamed at the 
mouth with rage. Drawing his dagger, he was just about to throw 
himself upon the little man and stab him to the heart, when a man 
rushed in, covered with dust, and stopped the Prince in the act by 
handing him a letter. 

“ My lord, — a message from Lord Renardino ! ” cried the 
courier. “ Take it and read it ! ” 

Azor broke the seal and read. 

“ Hooray ! ” he shouted, flinging his turban in the air, “ Hooray ! 
Bohemia ’s ours ! ” 

The messenger then stepped forward and pointed out to His 
Highness that there was a P.S. to the letter. 

“ The dickens ! ” said the Prince, scratching his head ; “ the old 
miser wants 300,000 sequins of me — but, after all, the kingdom ’s 
cheap at the price ! To arms, soldiers, to arms ! ” 

At this summons the whole castle was filled with bustle and 
fuss, and no one thought any more about Pierrot, who slipped away, 
nor of the executioner, who remained hanged, — a lucky thing for 
the Prince’s subjects, who hated him heartily, and with good 
reason. 

Whilst all this was happening, the King of Bohemia sat at 
dinner in his palace, with his daughter Fleur d’Amandier, Renar- 
dino his Prime Minister, and Cceur d’Or, who had been made 
Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army. 

The meal was a very dull and silent one. The old King, who 
had never laughed once since his Queen was imprisoned and Pierrot 
banished, was even sadder than usual. 

He had been dreaming all the night before that he had died a 
violent death, and that he was being buried. 

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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 


No one else felt any more cheerful. Fleur d’Amandier was 
thinking sadly of her mother, and Cceur d’Or sighing hopelessly 
for Fleur d’Amandier. Renardino himself was very uneasy, and 
with his ear turned to the door, trembled at the least noise from 
outside. 

Suddenly the door was flung open wide, and the old beggar of 
the wayside appeared on the threshold. 

“ Fleur d’Amandier and Coeur d’Or,” she said, “ come with me ! 
Her Majesty the Queen wishes you to join her.” 

At the sound of her mother’s name, Fleur d’Amandier rose from 
the table, ran to embrace her father, and hurried away. Coeur d’Or 
followed her, and the door closed once more. 

Renardino was left alone with the King. 

“ My stars ! ” said the Premier to himself ; “ that old witch came 
just in the nick of time, just when 1 wanted to get rid of those two ! 
Everything prospers as it should.” 

“ Come, Sire,” he said aloud, “ drive away all these sad thoughts 
from your mind with a glass of good old Hungary wine! It hasn’t 
its equal in all the world! Here ’s to your better luck ! Death to 
Prince Azor, and prosperity to the Royal house of Bohemia ! ” 

The King, without thinking, carried his glass to his lips and 
emptied it at a draught. 

“ Oh, good Heavens ! ” he stammered, and fell heavily out of his 
chair as if struck by lightning. 

“ Good ! ” said Renardino, rubbing his hands. “ The powder has 
done its work well. And now, to keep our word to the Prince ! ” 

And drawing a cord from his pocket he bound the King hand 
and foot. 

If he had not been so entirely wrapped up in his wicked work, 
the villain might have seen a face watching him from the opposite 
window — a white face, with wide-open eyes, which followed all his 
actions with a look of wonder and affright. It was Pierrot, who had 
flown back to Bohemia immediately he had escaped, and whose first 
thought on entering the palace had been to see what was happening 
in the dining-hall. 

All in a moment cries were heard without ; a sound of footsteps 
and the clanking of swords echoed through the rooms of the palace, 
and Azor burst open the door and darted in. 

[ 48 ] 



WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG *%* 

“ Where ’s the King? ” he asked in a deep voice. 

“ There, in his chair, well tied up,” answered Renardino. 

“ By my hump, you ’re a man of your word ! ” 

“ And the 300,000 sequins ? ” 

“ Here they are.” 

Just at this moment a white shadow glided swiftly between the 
two speakers, seized upon the bag of money which the Prince was 
offering to Renardino, and blew out the candles, leaving the room 
in darkness. At the same moment the Premier, who had held out 
his hand for the gold, received a sharp smack on the cheek, which 
he answered with an angry blow of his fist, which fell full on Azor’s 
nose. 

Then followed a terrible struggle, — yells, bites, kicks, and oaths 
— for the two gripped each other and rolled over and over, clutch- 
ing each other as closely as two snakes in combat. 

Startled by the horrible noise the soldiers ran into the room with 
torches, and the light showed the two fighters each other’s face. 

“ What ! It ’s you ! ” they both cried, recognising each other, and 
sitting up dazed with surprise. 

But their amazement was greater still when, on looking round 
the room, they discovered that both the King and the money-bag 
had disappeared ! 


CHAPTER X — The Death of Prince Azor 

rr^HAT very night the Prince and the Premier gave them- 
selves up to searching the palace from top to bottom, the 
M one to capture the King, the other to recover the sequins 
which had been stolen from him. But all their trouble 
was in vain. 

The King was no longer in the palace. Carried off by Pierrot, 
he was sleeping like a log in the woodcutter’s little cottage. His 
bonds had been cut, and from time to time the good dame Marguerite 
applied a bottle of smelling-salts to his nostrils — salts so strong and 
severe that the poor King made the most awful faces, and even in 
his sleep punched his own nose with the most savage vigour. 

* [ 49 ] 




























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Meanwhile the woodcutter, seated at his table, was gloating over 
a dazzling pile of sequins, which slione brightly in the rays of the 
lamp. 

Soon Azor began to feel uneasy. He set guards at all the 
palace gates, and spent the night in planning with Renardino. One 
thing, above all, troubled him : it was that the King’s army was 
nowhere to be found. Coeur d’Or, on the advice of the old witch, 
had taken it away, the night before, to guard Fleur d ’Amandier. 

Renardino, who did not know this, tried vainly to guess where it 
could have got to, and although he said nothing, he feared some 
misfortune would happen. 

Day was just breaking when the captain of Azor’s army entered 
the Prince’s bedroom to make his report. 

“ What news ? ” asked his master. 

“ Sire, the night has passed quietly enough,” answered the cap- 
tain ; “ but the men on the watch have seen a ghost wandering all 
night through, about the palace. One of them vows he knew it for 
the little white man who called himself the King of Bohemia’s 
Ambassador, and whom you wished to put to death. % But whether 
it was he or no, I won’t disguise from Your Highness that the vision 
has had a bad effect on the soldiers.” 

“ What ! The cowards are afraid of a ghost ! ” said the Prince, 
laughing loudly. “ Well, Captain, we must make short work of 
things. Out of the palace with all your men, and put the city to 
fire, sword and pillage ! ” 

The officer saluted and went out, but a minute afterwards he 
returned, looking very scared. 

“ Prince,” said he, “ we are shut in. The King of Bohemia at 
the head of his army has surrounded the palace, and summons Your 
Highness to surrender ! ” 

“ Blood and bones ! Who talks to me of yielding ! ” answered 
Azor in a terrible voice. “ Bring me my armour and my lance, open 
the palace gates, and I’ll scatter the dogs with a sweep of my 
sword ! ” 

“ My lord, you don’t understand,” stammered the captain. “ I tell 
you we’re trapped. The keys of all the palace-gates have been 
stolen in the night and we can’t get out.” 

“ The keys stolen ! Who has dared — ” 

[ 50 ] 



«5f WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

“ The little white man that I told you about just now, and who 
was prowling about all night. He has just handed them over to 
your enemy, the King.” 

“ Down with your arms ! ” cried a threatening voice at this 
moment, — “ down with your arms, or you ’re all dead men ! ” 

It was Coeur d’Or who rushed into the room, followed by the ' 
King and his army. 

Furious at having been thus entrapped, Azor set his back against 
the wall and prepared to sell his life dearly. But Renardino, who 
had just- entered, seized his arm and whispered, — 

“ Gently, Prince, gently ! Sheathe your sword, and let me do 
the talking : the game is n’t lost yet.” 

Then, advancing towards the King he said, — 

“ Sire, I am lost in amazement. What has happened, and what 
does all this warlike preparation mean ? Is this the way to receive 
a Prince who comes to seek the honour of an alliance • with your 
Royal house 1 ” 

“ Eh ? What ’s that you say, my lord 1 ” cried the King. _ 

“ I say,” repeated the Premier very solemnly, “ that Prince Azor 
is here to settle terms of peace between the two countries, and has 
the honour to ask in marriage the hand of Pier Royal Highness the 
great and powerful Princess, Fleur d’Amandier.” 

At this unexpected proposal everyone cried out in surprise, 
whilst Pierrot appeared quite dumfoundered, and whistled a tune 
to appear more at his ease. But the King asked him in a low 
voice, — 

“What tale was that that you spun last night, my lord Pierrot, 
about a drug and ropes and the rest of it % ” 

“ Prince Azor awaits your reply, Sire,” added Renardino. 

At these words the old beggar-woman, who had drawn near to 
the King, whispered in his ear, — 

“Answer quickly that you accept, but claim the right of combat 
according to the laws of Bohemia.” 

“ That ’s it : I never thought of that ! ” answered the King. 

“ Thanks, my good woman! ” 

Then, turning to Renardino, he added, — 

“ I gladly agree to the offer of alliance which our good cousin 
Azor makes us, but on one condition — that he obeys the old Hun- 

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«£? FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 

garian custom, and holds the list, this very day, with all kinds of 
weapons, against all comers.” 

“ Agreed ! ” cried the Prince. 

“ Very well ! Then, Prince Azor, I challenge you! ” cried Coeur 
d’Or and Pierrot both together, and they flung, one his iron glove, 
the other his white felt hat, at the Prince’s feet. 

“ Madmen ! ” thundered Azor, “ woe to ye both ! ” 

And he picked up the tokens of combat. 

An hour later all was prepared for the tournament. The two 
armies gathered round the field, in battle array, and the King, with 
Fleur d’Amandier on his right and Renardino on his left, took his 
place on a raised stand which had been set up midway. 

Prince Azor, seated proudly astride his war-horse, his lance in 
rest, stood stock-still and waited the signal to begin. 

Suddenly the bugles rang out, and at one end of the lists there 
appeared a slight figure, mounted on an ass, and with no other 
weapon than a pitchfork, borrowed from the Royal stables. It was 
Sir Pierrot, helmet on head and armour on back. 

Having gracefully saluted the King, he set spurs to his steed and 
darted towards Azor, who in his turn was upon his foe in a flash. 

Our hero would certainly have been dashed to pieces straight- 
away, if his poor donkey, which was not used to such encounters, 
had not suddenly begun braying with such startling vigour that the 
Prince’s mount reared with- fright, and sprang clean over the ass 
and its rider. 

The Prince was so rudely shaken that he was forced to cling to 
his horse’s mane, so as not to lose his seat ; but Pierrot rode on in 
triumph, trotting nimbly forward on his ass, fork in rest. 

Once again at the further end of the lists, the two warriors 
turned about and set spurs to their chargers. But this time the 
shock of encounter was so severe that Pierrot, struck full in the 
chest by his enemy’s lance, shot from his saddle and rolled a hun- 
dred paces away. Neither ass nor rider showed any sign of life. 
Azor’s army shouted with delight. 

“ Silence in the ranks ! ” cried the King. “ Let another champion 
be summoned.” 

Coeur d’Or, covered with magnificent armour and mounted on a 
milk-white horse, next entered the arena. He courteously saluted 

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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 

the King and Fleur d’Amandier by lowering his lance-point, and 
then took his place at the end of the list opposite Prince Azor. 

The bugles gave the signal, and the two champions charged 
upon each other. They came together in the middle of the list like 
a clap of thunder. The steeds reared back on their haunches, and 
the lances flew into splinters, but neither rider had given way. 

“ To it again, my heroes ! ” said the King. And two new lances 
jvere brought to the fighters, that they might begin afresh. 

In the new encounter Coeur d’Or was hit in the shoulder, and 
Prince Azor, unsaddled, rolled in the dust. But he sprang to his 
feet in an instant, seized on his battle-axe, and stood on his defence. 

Coeur d’( )r, throwing aside his lance, took his battle-axe also, and 
sprang from his courser’s back. 

It was a terrible fight ; blows were dealt fierce enough to split 
mountains, but neither warrior seemed to be so much as shaken. 

The two fought on for an hour without any advantage being 
gained by either, when CoSur d’Or, whose wound made him feel 
weak, began to give way. Suddenly his foot caught in something 
on the ground ; he stumbled and fell. With a bound Azor was 
upon him, gripping him by the throat, and drawing his dagger. 

At this terrible moment a cry arose — a terrible, piteous cry, 
like that of a mother who sees her child die before her eyes. It 
came from Fleur d’Amandier. 

At the sound of her voice in agony Coeur d’Or seemed to recover 
himself, and found strength enough to throw off his enemy. Then 
he sprang up, took his hatchet in both hands, whirled it about liis 
head, and struck Prince Azor such a violent blow on the head that 
it shattered his helmet into a thousand fragments, and clove the 
hunchback himself from head to foot. 

“ Ah ! It was quite time ! ” cried the King, taking a long breath, 
like a diver coming to the top of the water once again. “ Coeur 
d’Or is well out of it ! ” 

“ Victory ! Victory ! Long live Coeur d’Or ! ” cried the King’s 
troops, but AzOr’s men stood dumb and still, gnawing their lances 
in their anger. 

The conqueror was borne in triumph to the foot of the Royal dais, 
amid a flourish of trumpets, but he had lost so much blood through 
his wound that when the King, with the touch of a sword on the 

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WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG «g? 

shoulder, knighted the young hero, he fell forward fainting into the 
monarch’s arms. 

The good King, moved to pity, seated the youth on his throne 
and was just going to tickle him with a feather to bring him to his 
senses, when Fleur d’Amandier, looking as pale as a lily, doffed her 
scarf, and falling on her knees bound the bleeding wound with her 
own fair hands. Whether it was that this was the best cure for his 
pain, or whether the touch of his loved one thrilled the youth back 
to life, I do not know, but true it is that Cceur d’Or moved and 
opened his eyes. A gleam of joy shone in his face when he saw the 
young and blushing Princess on her knees before him. 

“ Oh, for pity’s sake,” he murmured, “ stay as you are ! If this 
be a dream, let me not wake ! ” 

I do not know how long they would have remained thus, if the 
old beggar-woman, who seemed to have the power of appearing 
everywhere, had not touched the young warrior’s shoulder with her 
hand, whereupon he rose to his feet, cured and strong in an instant. 

Fleur d’Amandier could not help giving a cry of joy when she 
saw this miracle. For the second time that day she had betrayed 
her secret. It could no longer be hidden or denied : she loved Coeur 
d’Or. 

Let us now return for a moment to Pierrot. 

We left him, you remember, stretched out on the field with his 
ass, which lay with all its four feet sticking up in the air. Neither 
moved all through the rest of the fight ; but at the sound of the 
joyful hurrahs uttered by the Bohemian army Pierrot sat up sud- 
denly, ran to the spot where the dead man lay, and took from his 
helmet a little note folded into four. 

“ This is it ! ” he cried, and hurried to show it to the King. 

But His Majesty, now at his ease about Coeur d’Or, was discuss- 
ing the events of the day with Renardino. Suddenly the Premier 
turned pale : he had just seen the note which Pierrot was carrying. 

“ Give me that letter ! ” he cried hastily, “ give it to me ! ” And 
he threw himself upon the little man, to snatch it from him. 

“After His Majesty, please, Mister Minister !” our hero answered. 

“ Pierrot ’s right,” said the King. “ So many strange things have 
happened to-day that I want to see everything now with my own 
eyes.” 


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FAIRY TALES BY DTJMAS 

And he took the letter to read it. 

In a flash Renardino had drawn his dagger, and was just going 
to stab the King in the back when Pierrot, who still carried his 
fork, pinned the Premier by the neck to the back of the Royal stand. 

“ Now, Sire.” he said, “ you can read it at your ease.” 

And the King read in a low voice the following letter : 

“ To Prince Azor, from Albertini Renardino. 

“ Prince, — All my preparations are made. 1 will hand the King 
over to you to-night, bound hand and foot. (The poor old man can 
never see further than his nose, and suspects nothing.) I will tell 
you when I see you all the silly suspicions that I ’ve put into his 
head about the Queen and Pierrot. You will have a good laugh over 
them ! 

“ Quick, quick to horse, noble Azor, and Bohemia is yours ! 

Your faithful servant, 

Renardino.” 

“ P.S. Above all, don’t forget to bring the 300,000 sequins 
agreed upon.” 

“ Ah, traitor ! ah, scoundrel ! ” cried the King, turning upon his 
Premier, purple with anger, and shaking his fist under the prisoner’s 
nose. “ Ah, I am a poor old chap, am I ? Ah, I see no further 
than my nose, don’t I ? By my beard, you shall pay for this ! ” 

And he bade his men load the Minister with chains and lead him 
away. 

Coeur d’Or and Fleur d’Amandier were talking together all this 
time, and neither saw nor heard what was passing around them. 
Indeed, if a thunderbolt had fallen at their feet, I doubt if they 
would have noticed it. 

“Now let’s be off! March!” cried the King. “ We must put 
things right straightaway ! Let us haste to the tower and release 
the Queen ! ” 

At the sound of her mother’s name Fleur d’Amandier trembled. 

“ Oh, my dear mother! ” she cried, clasping her hands, “ Pardon ! 

I had forgotten you ! ” 

And leaning on her lover’s arm she joined the procession, which 
was already on the road to the tower. 

The King marched at the head of the army, which followed in 

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«§? WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

single file, and as he went, he appeared to be in deep thought. Evi- 
dently he was reckoning something up, for every now and again he 
could be seen counting on his fingers. 

Suddenly he stopped dead, and so unexpectedly that he upset 
the captain of the guards, who marched behind him, sword in hand. 
The captain in falling naturally knocked down the soldier behind 
him and he did the like with the third, and so it happened to all 
along the line, one after another, until the whole army lay strewn in 
a string across the plain. 

“ Very nice, very proper, my children,” said the King graciously, 
for he thought they had fallen down before him to show their admi- 
ration. “ Get up.” 

Then, turning to Fleur d’Amandier, he added, — 

“ Is my history-maker here '? ” 

“Yes, Father. You know that he goes wherever you go ! ” 

“Let him come here and bring his note-book. I have resolved 
to do a good action to-day, and desire it should be written in letters ot 
gold, so that my people in days to come shall admire it.” 

“ That is a good thought, Father, worthy of your good heart.” 

“ Flatterer ! ” answered the King, patting his daughter’s cheek. 
“ But now I come to think of it, you must be the one to do it.” 

“ And you, Father 1 ?” 

“ Oh, it is not in my line. I do these things so bluntly, as you 
know, but you have such a sweet voice, there is such a note of ten- 
derness in your tone when you give to the poor, that they feel them- 
selves comforted, oidy to listen to you. And then, you have such a 
delicate way of doing things, that you double the worth of your 

gift — ” 

“ Father ! ” cried Fleur d’Amandier, looking down in confusion. 

“ Oh, it is nothing to blush for, my child. Listen ! Directly we 
get back to the palace you will take a thousand golden sequins from 
me to the good old dame who gave me such excellent advice to- 
day, and tell her that it is only the first quarter’s payment of a pen 
si on which I shall allow her every year so long as she lives — ” 

“ I thank you, 0 King,” said a voice which seemed to come from 
a neighbouring bush. 

The King started at the sound of that familiar voice and pressed 
closer to Coeur d’Or. 

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FAIRY TALES BY JJU MAS 

“ Wlio was it who spoke ? ” he asked ; “ was n’t it the little red 
fish ? ” 

“ No, Sire, it was the old beggar-woman,” answered Coeur d’Or. 

“No, Coeur d’Or,” said Fleur d’Amandier, smiling as she spoke ; 
“ it was the fairy of the lake.” 

“ She speaks truth, ” added a voice from the thicket ; “ I am the 
fairy of the lake, but be easy, King of Bohemia ; the fairy has forgot- 
ten the wrongs of the little red fish, and only remembers your kind- 
ness to the old beggar. You shall be repaid for it. I know that you 
long to have a son — ” 

“ Oh, yes, yes ! ” cried the King, who could not help giving voice 
to his desire. 

“ Your wish shall be granted. A year hence the Queen will pre- 
sent you with a'Prinee who will be as beautiful as the day ; and who 
when he becomes a man will do wonders in the world, by the help 
of this magic talisman.” 

And as she spoke a magnificent golden ring, set with sapphires, 
fell clinking on the road before the King. He sprang upon it, and 
placing it on his finger cried, — 

“ Oh, you good little fairy, thanks ! I shall have a son ! I shall 
have a son ! ” 

And he took to his heels, eager to announce the good news, that 
was almost too good to be true, to the Queen. 

All this time Prince Azor’s soldiers remained in the field of tour- 
ney. You never saw such sheepish-looking fellows in your life. 
There they stood, dumb and open-mouthed, resting first on one foot, 
then on the other, not knowing what to do with themselves. 

“ Are you men or only cardboard"?” cried their captain suddenly 
in a rousing voice. “ Must I put you in a box, to be played with by 
children'? What! Your Prince is killed before your very eyes, and 
you look on and twiddle your thumbs ! Ods-fire-and-brimstone, are 
you or are you not the terrible army of Prince Azor? Do you not 
hear his blood crying to you to be revenged 1 Good, I see that cour- 
age awakens in your hearts ! Come, then — march ! ” 

At this fiery speech the soldiers shook themselves together, and 
set off, left foot foremost and with drums a-beating, in chase of the 
King and his men. 

“ Soldiers of Prince Azor, halt, or you are all dead men ! ” cried 
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WHEN EIERItOT WAS YOUNG 

the beggar-witch sternly. She had suddenly appeared on the city 
walls, her white crutch in her hand. 

But the soldiers, once started, went on marching. 

Then the old dame waved her stick and muttered a few words. 
Suddenly the terrible creatures painted on the walls shot forth 
sparks from their eyes, nostrils, and jaws — a cloud, a torrent of flame ! 

There were terrified shouts of “ Fire ! fire ! ” and the good people 
of the city ran to the ramparts with buckets of water. 

They looked down, but saw nothing but a heap of armour, helmets, 
and spear-heads. 

It was all that was left of Prince Azor’s army ! 


CHAPTER XI — Pierrot's Vow 


W HILST the King was hurrying to tell the Queen of the 
fairy’s wonderful promise, Pierrot, who had stayed behind 
on the field, sought everywhere for his ass, to set it on its 
feet if it still breathed, and return to the cottage of his adopted father, 
the woodcutter. 

But he sought in vain ; look where he would, not even the tip of 
its dear little ear could he spy. 

“Oh, my poor Martin!” he cried anxiously, “where are you!” 
And in his despair he took to shouting, “ Martin ! Martin ! ” 

Then he held his breath, to listen for an answering sound, but he 
only heard the echo’s mocking voice crying, " Martin ! Martin ! ” as 
if there were some rude urchins behind the rocks. 

Pierrot was going to shout out a second time, when he chanced to 
catch sight of the wild beasts which had been painted on the city 
walls to frighten the foe. These intelligent creatures thought, no 
doubt, that as Azor was dead, and they had destroyed his army, a 
savage mien was no longer needful ; and they subdued their looks to 
such a degree, and took on such a mild, good-humoured appearance, 
that one could have fancied them a flock of little lambs going to pay 
a call upon M. Florian, the gentleman who wrote such pretty fables. 

But Pierrot, whose wits were not very clear, did not notice this 
change, and cried out indignantly, — 

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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 

“ Oh, the monsters ! They have eaten my poor Martin, I know 
they have ! ” 

Then drawing near the foot of the wall, he chose for attack a 
tiger, with a rather more beaming smile than the others, and hoping 
to make him thoroughly ashamed of himself cried, — 

“ Fie, what an ugly creature! Oh, it is naughty, naughty, to do 
suoh a thing — you ought to know that ! ” 

And in his anger he was raising his fingers to his nose, when he 
spied his missing ass on the top of a hillock, quietly browsing on a 
clump of prickly furze. 

Pierrot started at the sight, and forgetting the tiger, was quickly 
at the hill-foot. But the ass, who was really not such a donkey as he 
looked, did not wait for his master. Whether he feared being taken 
back to fight again, whether his hour or so of liberty had already 
given him a taste for a wild life, or whether, again, he was obeying 
some strange unearthly power, I cannot say. But he trotted across 
the plain, neighing till the hills rang again, and kicking up his heels 
in the fulness of his joy. 

Our friend Pierrot hurried in chase of him, but great as his strides 
were, he could not come up with the beast. 

“ Very good ! Very good ! ” he cried to the ass, which-kept a hun- 
dred paces ahead. 

“ I did n’t know you could run so fast and so well : I ’ll keep it in 
blind, my fine fellow ! ” 

After two hours of this vain chase Pierrot came to the foot of a 
mountain. Any other ass but Martin would have taken this chance 
to get away entirely, but he was a well-educated animal and knew 
the proper thing to do. So instead of hurrying away he paused 
and waited until his master had got his breath. Meanwhile he filled 
in the spare time by lightly cropping with the tips of his lips a 
thistle which had been foolish enough to push its head through 
the crevice of the rocks, and which he began to chew with his white 
teeth. 

After resting half an hour Pierrot rose. The truce was over, and 
he resumed the chase more eagerly than ever. It lasted all night, 
and Pierrot, exhausted and sleepy, was giving it up as a bad job, 
when he saw his beast enter a cave hollowed out in the heart of the 
mountain. 


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WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

“All, I have you tliis time!” he cried, and holding his head 
down he darted into the dark recesses of the rock. 

He had not gone a hundred paces before he felt a hand laid on 
his arm, and heard a voice which murmured in his ear, — 

“ Come in, Pierrot, you are welcome ! 1 want to speak with you.” 



“ Who is it that speaks ? ” asked Pierrot, trembling all over. 

“ Have no fear, my friend,” continued the voice, “you are in the 
home of the old beggar-woman.” 

“ The old beggar-woman ! ” repeated the little man, feeling rather 
more comforted. 

“Yes, my friend, and I am very anxious to have a talk with 


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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 






“You honour me, my good woman,” replied Pierrot, who always 
made it a rule to speak politely to the poor. “ But first tell me, did 
you see an ass come in here, only a minute ago 1 ” 

“Yes, my dear,” answered the old dame, “and I have just taken 
it to a well-filled manger, where it will be quite willing to wait until 
we’ve had our. chat, and won’t feel the least bit dull.” 

“Oh, how splendid!” cried Pierrot, jumping for joy, to know 
that his ass was not lost, after all. Then turning to the old woman 
he added, — 

“ Now, my good dame, say what you wish to say, I ’m all ears ; 
although, to be candid, it would perhaps be as well to wait until 
another day. The hour and the place — ” 

“ Are not very well chosen, you think ? But be easy, my friend, 
I expected you to-night, and all is ready to receive you.” 

As she spoke the witch struck the rock where she was standing 
with her crutch. Immediately the cave split into two, and instead of 
the gloomy narrow passage in which he had been groping, Pierrot saw 
a great palace, built all of white, such as one sees in dreams or reads 
of in fairy-tales. 

It was an immense building, carved out of one huge block of 
marble. Its vast cupola sparkled with diamonds and was supported 
by double rows of alabaster columns, wreathed together with garlands 
of pearls and opals, lilies, magnolias, and orange-blossoms interlaced. 
Quaint ornamentations carved by clever sculptors ran spirally up 
the pillars, covered with capitals, clung to the projections above, and 
hung from the borders like icicles of snow. 

As far as the eye could see fountains met the view, whose glit- 
tering waters shot skyward out of sight and fell again in showers 
of diamonds into their basins of rock-crystal, where shoals of silver- 
scaled fish darted about the dreaming swans. The floor, which was 
formed of one huge piece of mother-of-pearl, was covered with a 
carpet of ermine, strewn with clematis, jasmine, myrtle, narcissus, 
Easter-daisies, and white camellias, and in each flower hung a bead 
of dew. 

But the most wonderful thing of all — you would not believe it 
if I did not tell it to you myself — was, that through all this the light 
shone ! The whole palace was pierced with light — but its beams 
were so pale, so calm, so soft, that you could have fancied it was 

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WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG «£? 

night in the upper world, and the moonlight was sleeping on the 
dewy grass. 

In the centre of the palace, seated on a silver throne richly chased, 
was the Queen of the land, a beautiful white fairy, with a smile so 
sweet that one had only to look at her to love her. 

It was the fairy of the lake, she whom we have seen in the form 
of a little red fish, and in the disguise of a beggar. She was now 
clothed from head to foot in a cloud of light gauze. Her thoughtful 
face was half-hidden by the hand on which it rested. Suddenly she 
arose. 

“ Draw near, my friend,” she said in a gentle voice to Pierrot, who 
was standing apart. 

But Pierrot, dazzled by her beauty and the magic of the scene, 
did not move. He stood staring with wide-open eyes. 

“ Come, my friend,” the fairy repeated, “ come here to me,” and 
she beckoned him to the first step of her throne. Then, as Pierrot 
still made no movement, she added kindly, — 

“ Have no fear of me. Do you find me less to your liking in this 
dress than in the old beggar-woman’s rags 1 ” 

“ Oh no, do not change ! ” cried Pierrot at last, clasping his hands 
imploringly. 

“You are so beautiful, so ! ” And coming nearer Ije threw himself 
at her feet. 

“ Rise, Pierrot,” said the fairy smiling, “ and let us talk together. 
I have a great sacrifice to ask of you : do you feel you have the cour- 
age to make it ? ” 

“I am your slave,” answered Pierrot; “and whatever you bid 
me to do I will do for love of you.” 

“ ’T is well : I expected no less from your kind heart. But be- 
fore pledging yourself further, listen.” Then, with the sweet smile 
which became her lovely pale face so well, she added, — 

“ You see in me the friend of little children. Will you love them, 
too?” 

“ Willingly, and with all my heart,” replied Pierrot, who remem- 
bered the new clothes which the little ones had sent him when Prince 
Azor held him captive, 

“But will you give up your life to amusing them and making 
them happy ? ” 


[ 63 J 



FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 




5 ? 


“ Yes, I will,” he answered firmly. 

“ But take care ! They are not always grateful, the little ones ; 
they have their good and bad days, like the rest of us. Sometimes 
they are fickle, discontented, ungrateful — they will make you suffer.” 

“ I will suffer, then,” answered the little man bravely. 

“ But think it over well, my dear friend. Your task of resignation 
and self-sacrifice would begin to-morrow, and then it would mean good- 
bye to all you have loved in the other world ; you must leave Bo- 
hemia, the good people who took you in, the King and Queen, Fleur 
d’Amandier — ” 

“ Fleur d’Amandier ! ” cried Pierrot in a low voice, “ she, too ! ” 

“ You waver, now, I see, my poor boy ! ” said the fairy in a pitying 
voice, pressing the little man’s white hand in her own. 

Pierrot did not answer. 

“ But be of good cheer, friend Pierrot,” she continued, “ I shall be 
there to protect and console you, and I will repay you in full for all 
the suffering that the little children cause you.” 

Pierrot was still silent. 

“Ah, you suffer already, I see! Well, my friend,” she added, 
touching his shoulder, — “ look before you ! ” 

Pierrot raised his eyes, and his thoughtful face suddenly broke into 
a smile. 

He saw, contrived in a recess of the wall, a pretty little theatre, 
shining with gold and ablaze with fight, and crammed from floor to 
ceiling with little children. They were indeed a charming sight to 
see, all those little heads, dark and fair, cheeks pale and rosy, eyes 
blue or black, that laughed and grew happy in this golden clime, — 
like a bed of flowers giving out their scent and beauty to the summer 
sun. 

Drawn thither by some strange inward power, Pierrot found him- 
self on the stage. 

At the sight of his face the little ones shouted with joy and 
clapped their hands in glee. As he sang and danced for them there 
followed peal on peal of laughter, as clear and silvery as the song of 
birds at dawn. Then came bouquets and wreaths, falling like a 
shower of blossoms about Pierrot. 

He strove to speak, but tears choked his voice : he could only put 
his hand to his lips and fling a thousand kisses to his little friends. 

[ 64 ] 












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^ WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

Then, in a moment, the theatre vanished from view. 

“ Well, my friend,” said the fairy, “ are you still in doubt ? ” 

“ Oh no ! ” answered Pierrot quickly, and wiping away a tear 
that trembled on his eyelid, “ I will go to-morrow ! ” 

Scarcely had he said these words than the marble palace crumbled 
away, the scene was blotted out, and he found himself astride his 
ass once more, on the threshold of the cave. 

The sacrifice had been made. Pierrot had vowed to give his life 
to amuse the children. 


CHAPTER XII— Conclusion 

T HAT evening the Queen re-entered the palace in triumph, 
borne by the thirty-two black slaves, who were very loath 
to take to the tiring work of carrying a litter once more 
after several months of idleness. 

Her Majesty held in her hand a pretty, silver-wired cage, in which 
the little sparrow, who had been re-captured, chirped sadly, looking 
out at the free blue sky which he had lost. 

The King, mounted on a great white horse which had been 
brought to the tower for his use, ambled alongside the litter and as 
close as possible to it, for he felt so happy at seeing his wife again 
after their long separation that he could not take his eyes off her all 
the way. 

Next day Cceur d’Or was married to Fleur d’Amandier, and re- 
ceived as a marriage dowry Prince Azor’s kingdom. The wedding 
was as gorgeous as they always are in fairy-tales, whether a King 
marries a shepherdess or a Princess a shepherd. The lake-fairy, 
who drove up to the palace early in the morning in a diamond car 
drawn by two snow-white swans, attended the service and blessed 
the happy pair with her golden wand, solemnly promising before all 
present to be godmother to their first-bom. 

Lord Kcnardino was punished as he deserved for his wickedness 
and treason. All his riches were taken from him, and given back to. 
those from whom he had stolen them, and he himself, disgraced from 
his titles and rank, was clothed in the coarsest of liveries and set to 
do the lowest, vilest work in the palace, 
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^ WHEN PIERROT WAS YOUNG 

The King in gratitude for the fairy’s many kindnesses ordered 
that plentiful alms should be given to the poor of his country, and 
had a beautiful porphyry fountain erected in the palace gardens, where 
pretty little red fishes were boarded and lodged at the expense of the 
state. 

As for Pierrot, my dear children, he had taken care not to show 
himself during the marriage service, lest his good resolution should 
be broken, but he appeared at the wedding feast, and his white face, 
which till then had worn a shade of sadness, shone out with all its old 
mirth and happiness. When the dinner was ended he tore himself 
away from the table, and hurrying to the woodcutter’s little home, 
begged the loan of a pen to write a letter. 

In this he left to the good folk, to ease their declining years, the 
300,000 sequins which he had so cleverly conjured from Azor’s pos- 
session, and which the King had begged him to keep as a reward for 
his services. 

This done, he hugged the old folk, who wept over him and took 
a tender farewell of him. Then, drying his eyes with his sleeve, he 
took his basket'on his arm and left the little cottage.- 

Suddenly the revellers at the palace heard a voice singing in the 
garden the little ballad which they all knew so well, — 

“ In the light of the moon, Pierrot, my friend,” 

and all the court listened, silent and sad, they knew not why. Little 
by little the voice grew faint and died away in the distance. 

It was Pierrot, setting out' upon his new life, and taking leave of 
the old. 


[ G7 ] 















THE COUNTESS BERTHA'S HONEY-FEAST 



The 

Countess Bertha’s Honey- Feast 


CHAPTER I — IVho the Countess Bertha JVas 

O NCE upon a time there lived in Germany a gallant Knight 
named Osmond of Rosenberg, who took for wife a beauti- 
ful young girl called Bertha. 

Now, Bertha, I know, was not fit to compare with the 
grand ladies of to-day, although she was as well-born as the highest 
in the land. She only spoke her own tongue ; she did not sing in 
Italian, never read English, and danced neither the galop, the waltz, 
nor the polka. But to make up for all these terrible drawbacks she 
was kind, gentle, and pitiful, and took care that not a breath of scandal 
should dim the bright mirror of her honour. When she wandered 
through her domains, not in an elegant carriage with a little King 
Charlie on the cushions before her, but on foot, alms-bag in hand, the 
voice of her grateful poor murmuring “ God bless your Ladyship ! ” 
sounded sweeter in her ears than the most exquisite ballad sung by the 
most famous singer, — although many of her class will pay good gold 
for such a song who would refuse even a farthing to the poor beggar 
pleading before them on the road, half-naked and shivering, and 
fumbling his tattered cap in his hands. 


CHAPTER II— The Cobolds 

A ND so the praises and thanksgivings of the country-side fell 
like a blessed dew upon the good Count and his wife. 
/ % Golden harvests grew thick in their meadows ; their vines 

groaned beneath the weight of the great juicy bunches ; and 
if ever a black cloud filled with hail and lightning threatened to fall 
upon the castle, a magic breeze turned it swiftly away towards the 

C 71 ] 



FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 


& 


abode of some hard-hearted lord in the neighbourhood upon whose 
homestead it burst, carrying destruction with it. What unseen power 
averted the black cloud and saved the lands of the Count and 
Countess from the thunder and storm h I will tell you. 

It was the dwarfs of the castle. 

I ought to ^explain that in those days there lived in Germany a 
race of kindly little elves who have unfortunately fled from it long 
ago. The highest of these dwarfs was barely six inches in height, 
and they were called cobolds. These good little people, as old as 
the world itself, loved to dwell in the castles of those who lived good 
lives after God’s own heart. They hated wicked people and visited . 
them with all the little punishments that such small folk could inflict ; 
but on the other hand they protected with all their powers — and 
they had command over earth, air, fire, and water — all those whose 
goodness appealed to their warm little hearts. 

That was why these tiny folk, who had dwelt in the old castle 
from time immemorial, felt a special fondness for Osmond and Bertha, 
whose fathers and grandfathers they had known and loved, and that" 
is why they blew far away from this favoured spot all threatening 
storms and foul weather. 


CHAPTER III — The Old Castle 


NE day Bertha called her husband to her and said, — 



“ My dear lord, our castle is very old and threatens to fall 
in ruins about us. We can no longer live in safety within 
these crumbling walls, and I think — and hope you will 


think the same — th .t we should build a new one.” 


“ 1 am quite of your opinion, wife,” answered the Count, “ only 


one thing troubles me.” 

“ What is it 1” 

“ Although we have never set eyes on them, you must for all that 
have heard tell of the good cobolds who live in the depths of the 
castle. My father heard his grandfather — who had it in his turn 
from one of his forefathers — say that these little elves are the guard- 
ian angels of the castle. Now, perhaps they have grown so used to 
their old home that if we remove, and pull it down, they will be 


[ 72 ] 










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angry and cease to watch over the welfare of the family, and then 
our good luck would go with them.” 

Bertha agreed with her lord’s wise words, and the two decided to 
live on in the castle and make the best of it, rather than disturb and 
alienate the good little dwarfs. 


CHAPTER IF— The Embassy 

T HA I' very night, as the Countess Bertha and the Count 
Osmond lay in their great four-poster bedstead with its 
twisted columns, they heard a sound as of a myriad little 
feet approaching their room. The next moment the door 
| opened and a group of elves entered, evidently a deputation from 
the cobolds of whom we have just heard. 

The spokesman who strode at their head was richly dressed in 
the fashion of the time. He wore a fur mantle, a close-fitting velvet 
coat, hose of two colours, such as a jester wears, and little shoes with 
very, very long pointed tips. At his side he carried a sword of the 
finest steel, its hilt carved out of a diamond. He held his plumed 
hat politely in his hand as he stepped up to the bedside where the. 
astonished couple lay, and spoke to them in the following words : 








“ The news has just come to our ears, friends, that you, 
In the hope that the Fates would he kind, 

Have to-night felt an earnest desire to renew 
The old home that your fathers designed. 

“ And you will do well, for the castle is old, — 

Age has weakened this giant of stone, — 

And the rain in the winter days stormy and cold 
Makes its way through your roof, ivy-grown. 

“ Let the old castle, therefore, be thrown tojthe ground ; 
In its place raise another more fair ; 

And the luck that your fathers have hitherto found 
Shall follow and stay with you there ! ” 


Count Osmond was too much surprised by what he saw and heard 
to give any answer other than a friendly wave of the hand ; but the 

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THE COUNTESS BERTH A’ S HON EY- FEAST 

leader of the dwarfs was quite content with this sign of goodwill, and 
retired, after saluting the noble pair with the utmost gallantry. 

Next day the Count and Countess awoke well pleased that their 
chief cause of anxiety was removed. Strong in the approval of their 
kind little friends, Osmond sent for a clever architect and bade him 
begin the work at once. That gentleman, having condemned the old 
home to be pulled down, employed part of the men at his command 
upon the task, whilst the rest were set to hewing new stone from the 
quarries, cutting down oaks for the beams and Junes for the rafters of 
the new home. In less than a month the old building was levelled 
to the ground, and as the new one could not be finished in less than 
three years, so the architect said, the Count and Countess took up 
their abode meanwhile in a little farmhouse of theirs, in the neigh- 
bourhood of their charming estate. 


CHAPTER V—The Honey-Feast 

B U I 1 the building of the new castle went forward very rapidly ; 

for if the masons worked hard all day, the little elves were 
I just as busy all night. 

At first the workmen were terribly frightened when they 
returned to work in the morning, to find that several layers of stones 
had been added since the evening before. They spoke of this to the 
architect, who in turn told the Count. Osmond confessed that al- 
though he was not absolutely sure of it, everything pointed to the 
fact that this was the work of his little friends the dwarfs, who, know- 
ing how great a need there was for haste, had taken upon themselves 
this midnight labour. 

As it happened, a tiny trowel was found one day on the scaffold- 
ing, — a little thing no larger than one’s hand, but so beautifully made, 
with its handle of ebony bound with silver, that it looked like a toy 
fit for a King. The mason who found the trowel showed it to his 
companions and took it home in the evening to give to his little boy ; 
but the moment that the lad stretched out his hand to take it, the lit- 
tle tool began to move of itself, and flew out through the door so 
quickly that although the poor workman rushed after it as fast as he 
could run, the thing had disappeared in a second. At the same mo- 

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FAIItY T A L E S B Y DUMAS 







ment lie heard shrill, mocking laughter in the air all about him : the 
elves were laughing at his discomfiture ! 

But on the whole the little dwarfs who had charged themselves 
with this labour of love were very kindly and good-humoured ; and if 



“ The poor workman rushed after it ” 


they had not done a good share of the work, the castle would not 
have been built in six years. This was just what might have been 
expected of the architect, for those gentry have a habit of telling only 
half the truth. At last, however, towards the end of the third year, 
at the season when the nightingale, having deserted our windows, at 

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& THE COUNTESS BERTHA’ S li ONEY-FEAST «gr 

length takes leave of our climate, and the other birds who are forced 
to stay the winter in our cold countries lose their melodious gaiety 
t and are seen and heard more and more rarely, the new castle began 
to take its proper shape, although it was still far from being finished. 
The Countess Bertha saw this, and one day, whilst watching the work- 
men at their labours, she said to them in her sweet voice, — 

“ W ell, my good friends, does the work really go forward as quickly 
as you can make it '? Here is winter at our doors ; and the Count and 
I are so badly lodged in our little farmhouse that we are anxious to 
leave it as soon as possible for the beautiful home you have built for 
us. 

“ Listen ! If you will work hard and try to be ready for us in a 
month from now, I promise you that the day when you lay the bou- 
quet on the last stone of the topmost tower, I will give you all such a 
honey-feast as you have never known the like of in all your days. 
What is more, I will take a vow that each year when that day comes 
round, you, your children, and your children’s children shall receive 
the same gift from me and mine henceforward.” 

An invitation to a meal of honey-broth was not as paltry a cour- 
tesy in those days as it would seem to be now. It was not an offer 
to be scorned, for it was a way of asking a guest to a choice and 
ample feast. Folks said to one another, “ Come and take a dish of 
honey-broth with me to-morrow,” just as we should say to-day, 
“ Come and take your soup with me.” In both cases the rest of the 
dinner was meant also, with only this difference, that the broth came 
at the end of the meal, whilst we take our soup at the beginning. 

So this promise set the mouths of the workmen watering ; they 
redoubled their efforts, and got on so well that on the first of October 
the castle of Wistgaw was finished. 

The Countess Bertha, faithful to her word, caused a splendid feast 
to be prepared for all who had taken part in the work, and so great 
was the number of guests that they were obliged to serve it in the 
open air. 

When the soup was on the table, the weather seemed all that could 
be desired, and no one thought of the discomfort of dining without 
shelter ; but just when fifty enormous bowls filled with smoking-hot 
honey-broth were brought on, snowflakes began to fall thickly on the 
chilled plates. 


[ 77 ] 




















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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 

This incident, which spoilt the best part of the dinner, so upset 
the Countess Bertha that she resolved in future to choose the month 
of roses for the celebration of the fete ; and so the anniversary of the 
dinner when the famous honey-broth was to be served was fixed for 
the First of May. 

And the good Countess insured the observance of this pious and 
solemn custom by a deed of gift in which she pledged herself, and 
all masters of the castle who came after her, however it might come 
into their possession, to give a honey-feast to the villagers and ten- 
antry every First of May, declaring that she would not rest easy in 
her grave if this sacred duty were not faithfully fulfilled. 

This deed was duly written out by a lawyer on parchment, 
signed by Bertha, sealed by the Count, and placed among the family 
papers. 

CHAPTER VI— The Ghost 

F OR twenty years Bertha herself presided over the annual 
feast, which she maintained with the same generosity and 
magnificence as on the first occasion. But, alas, during the 
twenty-first year she died in the odour of sanctity, and was 
laid in the tomb of her fathers, mourned by her husband, and regretted 
by all the country-side. Two years later the Count Osmond himself, 
having religiously observed the custom founded by his wife, died in 
his turn, and left an only son Ulrik, who, as he possessed all his 
father’s and his mother’s virtues, not only kept the family pledge 
towards the peasants, but even did all that he could to better the 
gift. 

But one day a great war broke out in Germany, and large armies 
of Ulrik’s foes, fighting their way up the Rhine, seized upon the cas- 
tles on its bank. They came from lower Germany ; for the Emperor 
was making war on his lords. 

Ulrik could not withstand the invaders, but as he was a thoroughly 
brave warrior, he would willingly have defended his home and fallen 
fighting amongst its ruins, if he had not bethought himself of the 
misery which such a step would bring upon the neighbourhood. So, 
to save his tenantry from pillage and suffering, he took refuge in Al- 

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sace, leaving old Fritz, his steward, to look after the castle and lands 
which he was forced to leave at the mercy of the enemy. 

The General who led the troops in this part of the country was 
called Dominik. He occupied the castle, which he found greatly to 
his liking, and sent his men to quarter themselves on the neighbouring 
peasants. 

This General Dominik was a man of low birth, who had begun as 
a simple soldier, but had risen, more by favour than courage or merit, 
to the rank of general. I tell you this so that you sha’n’t think 1 
would sneer at those who make themselves somebody, having been 
born nobody — - on the contrary, I think very highly of such men, 
when they have deserved their honours. There are two kinds of 
fortune-makers, — those who gain success, and those who earn it. 
Now, this general was a vulgar, brutal upstart. Having been brought 
up on ration-bread and spring-water, he now tried to make up for lost 
time by demanding the choicest foods and the rarest wines in absurd 
quantities, and gave the leavings to his dogs, instead of sharing with 
others. 

The very day of his arrival at the castle, Dominik sent for old 
Fritz and made the poor man draw up a list of the levies to be made 
upon the people, — a list so long and so cruelly heavy that the 
steward fell upon his knees before the tyrant, and begged him not 
to place so terrible a burden on the poor peasantry. But the 
General simply replied that as there was nothing he hated to hear 
so much as grumbling, he should double his demands the moment 
he heard a single complaint. The General was the stronger man : 
the spoils belonged to him as the victor ; and the people were forced 
to submit. 

It will readily be guessed that such a man as General Dominik re- 
ceived the steward very unkindly indeed when the time came for Fritz 
to speak of the honey-feast. Indeed, he burst into a fit of scornful 
laughter, and replied that it was the duty of the tenants to maintain 
their lords, and not the lords to nourish their poor. He should 
therefore invite the Countess Bertha’s guests to dine where they 
chose on the First of May, warning them frankly that it would not 
be with him. 

Therefore for the first time for twenty-five years that auspi- 
cious day passed without the joyous peasantry gathering round the 

[ 79 ] 






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hospitable table of the Rosenbergs. The terror which Dominik 
caused, however, was so great that no one dared to protest ; besides, 
Fritz had obeyed the orders given him, and the people were well 
aware that their new master did not intend to keep up the good old 
custom. 

Dominik ate and drank at supper with his usual greediness, 
and having placed sentries on watch in the corridors and at the castle 
gates, he went to bed and slept. 

But contrary to his habit, the General awoke in the middle of the 
night. He was so used to sleeping the night through that at first 
he thought it was to-morrow morning; but he was mistaken. It 
was not yet light, and through the bars of the shutters he could see 
the stars sparkling in the sky. 

Besides, he was not only wakeful, but troubled. A vague fear 
chilled his heart ; he was filled with a foreboding that something 
unearthly was going to happen. The air seemed to quiver around 
him, as if some spirit of the night hovered above, fanning him with 
its pinions; his favourite dog, chained in the court below his window, 
howled mournfully ; and at the sound of that sinister noise the new 
lord of the castle felt his brow grow damp with sweat. 

At that moment midnight b.-gan to boom slowly forth from the 
castle clock ; and at each stroke the listener’s terror increased to 
such a pitch that at the tenth he could no longer endure the anguish 
which had seized upon him. He raised himself upon his elbow, 
ready to spring to the door and summon the sentry. 

But as the last stroke of midnight died away, and the frightened 
man’s foot touched the floor, he heard a door open, — a door which 
he remembered to have fastened on the inside. It swung apart of 
itself, and moved on its hinT»s as if there were no such things as 
bolts or locks. T’un a p lie li^'it filled the room, and a gentle step 
which set the listener shuddering to the marrow of his bones seemed 
to draw near to him. And now there appeared at the foot of the 
bed the figure of a woman wrapped in a great white shroud, holding 
in one hand a copper lamp, such as was in those days placed in the 
tombs of the dead ; and in the other a parchment, written, signed, 
and sealed. 

She drew near slowly, her gaze fixed, her features void of life or 
expression, her long hair flowing clammily about her shoulders. 

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5 ? THE COUNTESS BERTHA* S HONEY-FEAST 

When at length the phantom reached the watcher’s side, she 
held the lamp close to the paper so that the light fell full upon it, 
and said in a terrible, unearthly voice, — 



“ Do what that writing bids you ! ” 

And she held the lamp close to the paper, whilst Dominik, with 
staring eyes and haggard face, read the deed which established firmly 
and for ever the custom which he had dared to defy. 

When this terrible reading-lesson was over, the ghost, mournful, 
silent, and cold as ever, withdrew as she had come. The door 
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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 






closed behind her; the light disappeared ; and the wicked successor 
of Count Osmond fell back on his bed, where he lay with wide-open 
eyes till dawn, pinned to the bed and unable to stir, filled with a fear 
of which he was ashamed, but which he was powerless to overcome. 


CHAPTER VII — Ration — Bread and Water 

B UT with the first rays of daylight the spell lost its charm. 

Dominik sprang from his bed ; and, all the more furious 
because he could not hide from himself that he had been 
most horribly frightened, he ordered that all the sentinels 
who had been on guard at midnight throughout the castle should be 
sent to him. 

The wretches entered his presence trembling. At the very 
moment when twelve had sounded, each one had felt himself seized 
by a sudden overpowering drowsiness, and had slept to awaken some 
time later without being able to guess how long he had slumbered. 
Luckily, as they all met outside the door together, they agreed 
among themselves that they had kept good watch ; and as they had 
been wide-awake enough when the next sentry came to relieve them, 
they hoped that no one had noticed their little lapse from duty. 

Accordingly, they replied to all the General’s questions that they 
did not know what woman he was speaking about, and had seen 
nothing of her. Bnt, the steward, who was present, declared that it 
was no living woman who had visited the General, but a ghost, — 
the ghost of the Countess Bertha. 

The soldier frowned, but being impressed in spite of himself by 
what Fritz said, he dismissed the sentries, and when alone with the 
steward questioned the old man. He learned that the feast had been 
imposed as a solemn duty on the master of the castle for the time 
being, however he came to be lord of it, by a deed duly prepared, 
and now amongst the family papers. Dominik ordered Fritz to fetch 
the paper, and at a glance recognised it as the parchment which the 
ghost had held before his eyes. Until now the General had had no 
dealings with this document, for though he had strictly enforced all 
deeds which gave him power over others, he was by no means anxious 
to do as he would be done by. 

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But in spite of the behest clearly set forth in the deed which he 
had so carefully read, and in spite of all that Fritz could say, urging 
him to profit by the warning he had received, Dominik determined 
to take no notice of what had happened, and that very day invited 
all his officers to a grand banquet, which was to be even more gor- 
geous than any he had yet given. 

So great was the fear which the wicked soldier had caused, that 
at the time appointed the table was covered with the most delicate 
and appetising feast, although the orders had been given only that 
morning. The daintiest dishes, the best wines of Rhineland, France, 
and Hungary, were set before the guests, who placed themselves at 
table, loudly praising their General’s hospitality. 

But Dominik had no sooner taken his seat at the head of the 
table than he grew pale with rage, and cried with a frightful oath : 

“ What stupid ass has set ration-bread before me ? ” 

For there, on the table before the General, was a loaf of the kind 
of bread which they served out to the common soldiers in those days, 
and of which Dominik himself had eaten so much in his youth ! 

Everyone stared in astonishment, unable to believe tlieir eyes. 
They could not have thought there was a man in the world rash 
enough to play such a joke on so proud, cruel, and savage a 
man. 

“ Come here, idiot ! ” cried the General to the servant nearest to 
him, “ and take away this bread ! ” 

The man obeyed with all the eagerness of fear, but he tried in 
vain to lift the bread from the table. 

“ M — my lord,” he stammered, after several useless tugs, “ some- 
one must have pegged the loaf down. 1 cannot budge it ! ” 

Then the General, who was known to be as strong as any other 
four men, seized the loaf with both hands and struggled in his turn 
to lift it. But he only raised the table instead, an 1 at the end of five 
minutes he fell back in his chair, exhausted, his brow damp with 
sweat. 

“Drink, rogue — bring me dri.ik — and of i lie best!” he cried 
in a choking voice, holding out his goblet as ho spoke. “ I ’ll find 
out, I promise you, who has played this scurvy trick on me, and he 
shall be paid for it, let him be sure of that. 1 1 elp yourselves, gentle- 
men, help yourselves ; I drink to your good appetite! ” 

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And he raised the cup to his lips, but instantly spat out its con- 
tents, crying, — 

“ Which was the scoundrel who poured this villanous liquor into 
my cup 1 ” 

“ It w-was I, m-my lord,” said the trembling servant, who still 
held the bottle in his hand. 

“ And what have you got there, miserable villain 1 ” 

“ Tokay, m-my 1-lord ! ” 

“ You lie, you rogue ! It ’s water in my cup ! ” 

“ It must have changed from wine to water on its way from the 
bottle, then,” protested the man, “for I have just poured these two 
gentlemen a goblet full apiece from the same flask, and they will 
tell your Lordship that it is Tokay they ’re drinking.” 

The General turned to his friends, who confessed that what the 
servant said was true. 

Dominik frowned. He began to see that the joke was perhaps a 
more serious one than he had at first expected. He had fancied that 
it was merely some one’s ]3ractical joke ; now it seemed as if super- 
natural beings were at work. 

Wishing to assure himself of the truth, the General took the 
bottle from the lackey’s hand and poured out a glass of wine for his 
neighbour. The Tokay took its ordinary colour, and shone like a 
liquid topaz. Then he helped himself from the same flask ; but as 
fast as it fell into the goblet the wine lost its colour, and became as 
transparent and tasteless as water. 

Dominik smiled sulkily at this double allusion to his low origin 
and early training ; and anxious to get away from the sight of the 
black bread which seemed placed there on purpose to vex and humble 
him, he beckoned to his aide-de-camp, a young man belonging to one 
of the best families in Germany, to change places with him. The 
young man obeyed, and the General seated himself at another part 
of the table. 

But he fared no better in his new place than in the old. The 
young soldier removed the loaf from the table without any difficulty, 
and found it to be ordinary white bread once more, whilst every 
scrap of food which Dominik took up changed to ration-bread, and 
the wine still continued to turn to water before his eyes. 

At last the General, hungry and impatient to be eating, stretched 
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out his hands towards a dish of roasted larks ; but no sooner had he 
touched them than the birds flew up from the dish, fluttered out 
through the window, and fell into the open mouths of the peasants 
who were looking on, gaping with wonder at the splendid feast. 

Guess how astonished they were, to receive such a windfall ! 
Such a miracle rarely happened, and this one made a great stir in 
that part of the world ; so that even to-day they say of a man who 
indulges in foolish hopes : “ He expects larks to fall into his mouth 
ready cooked ! ” 

Meanwhile Dominik, who had had the honour of giving rise to 
this miracle and proverb, became more furious still ; but as he saw 
that it was useless to fight against fairy powers, he protested that he 
was n’t a bit hungry or thirsty, and that he would be content with 
doing the honours of the feast, which, however, was not a great suc- 
cess, for the guests felt awkward, not knowing what to say or- do. 

That same night the General announced that he had just received 
a letter from the Emperor ordering him to change his headquarters ; 
and as the command was very urgent, he set off at once. 

I need n’t tell you that the story about the letter was a mere fib, 
and that this doughty gentleman scuttled away in such great haste, 
not on account of any orders from his master, but because he was 
afraid of another visit from the Countess Bertha, and dreaded still 
more being condemned to a diet of bread and water for all the rest of 
his stay in that accursed castle. 

Scarcely had the General decamped when the steward, chancing 
to look into a cupboard (which had been empty the night before), 
came across a heavy bag full of money on which was a label bearing 
the words 

« FOR THE HONEY-FEAST.” 

The old man was very much frightened at first ; but recognising 
the Countess Bertha’s writing, he hastened to lay out the magic 
money in providing the annual feast, which was all the more delight- 
ful for having been delayed a few days. 

And the same thing occurred every First of May, the money being 
always provided by the Countess Bertha, until the Emperor’s troops 
were at length withdrawn, and Waldemar, son of Ulrik de Rosenberg, 
came back to live in the castle, twenty-five years after his father had 
quitted it. 


[ 85 ] 




FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 






CH A PTE R VI II — IV ildemar of Rosenberg 

B UT the Count Waldemar lacked the virtues of his father and 
grandfather. Perhaps his life in exile, away, from his home 
and country, had soured his heart. Happily he had a wife 
who did much to soften and sweeten his harsh, bitter nature 
by her gentleness and goodness ; so that on the whole the people, 
ruined by twenty-five years of war, looked upon the return of Count 
Osmond’s grandson as a blessing and boon. 

And, besides, the holy vow taken by the Countess Bertha was 
still kept in memory by the family, in spite of their long absence ; 
and when the First of May arrived (which the peasants always 
awaited eagerly at such times, that their new master and mistress 
might be tested and judged bv it) the Countess Wilhelmine per- 
suaded her husband to give the fete , and even to preside over it. As 
the Count was a most charming fellow when he liked, all passed off 
wonderfully well, and the people began to think that the golden 
age had dawned once more, — the days of the Count Osmond and 
Countess Bertha, of whom their fathers had so often spoken. 

The following year the honey-feast was given as usual, but this 
time Waldemar took no part in it, declaring that it was lowering for 
a gentleman to sit down to table with his people. So Wilhelmine 
alone did the honours of the day, and it may be confessed that in 
spite of the Count’s absence the dinner was by no means a sad one ; 
for the people had already discovered that they owed this bounty 
entirely to the Countess’s kind heart and good influence over her 
husband. 

Two or three years rolled by thus, and the poor peasants saw 
more and more clearly that it needed all the Countess’s heavenly 
goodness to soften her lord and master’s harsh nature. Her unweary- 
ing sweetness acted as a shield between the unkind lord and his 
subjects ; but unhappily for them, Heaven soon took away their pro- 
tectress, and she died in giving birth to a charming little baby boy 
named Hermann. 

One must have had a heart of stone indeed not to sorrow for that 
angel from heaven who had borne on earth the name of Wilhelmine ; 

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THE COUNTESS BERTHA 9 S HONEY-FEAST 


J and for some days the Count sincerely mourned the good wife he had 
| lost. But he was not one to give way to tenderness for long, and 
I when he did feel such a weakness, it did not keep any hold upon 
i him. Oblivion springs up about a grave as quickly as the grass itself, 
fi and at the end of six months the Count had forgotten his beloved 
I Wilhelmine and taken a second wife. 

Alas ! poor little Hermann was the one to suffer by this second 
i marriage. He had crossed the threshold of life, to find it draped with 
j mourning, and before he could know a mother’s love, he was an 
orphan. His stepmother shrank from accepting the charge of a child 
who was not her own, and who, as the eldest, would be the heir to the 
estate, whatever others she might bear. So she placed the boy in 
charge of a careless nurse, who neglected little Hermann for hours 
together, leaving him to sob his little heart out alone in his forgotten 
cradle, whilst she went off to gossip, to feast, or to dance. 


CHAPTER IX — The Watches 

O NE evening, thinking it much earlier than it really was, the 
nurse stayed out in the garden chatting and leaning on the 
gardener’s arm. Suddenly she heard midnight strike, and 
recollecting that she had left little Hermann alone since 
seven o’clock, she ran back hurriedly, and under cover of the darkness 
managed to cross the courtyard without being seen. 

She reached the staircase, mounted it, and gazed around her un- 
easily, muffling the sound of her footsteps and holding her breath ; 
for in spite of the fact that the indifference of the Count and the 
hatred of the Countess saved her from reproaches, her conscience 
assured her that what she had done was very wicked. 

However, she felt comforted when, on nearing the door of her 
room, she heard no sound or cry from the child within. No doubt, 
she decided, he had cried so much that he had fallen asleep. It was 
with a feeling of relief, therefore, that she drew the key from her 
pocket, carefully placed it in the lock, and turning it as quietly as 
possible, pushed gently at the door. 

But as it opened and she glanced round the room, the wicked 
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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 


woman turned paler and paler and trembled from head to foot, for 
she saw a sight as awful as it was strange. 

Although, as we have said, she had kept the key of the room 
in her pocket, and she was perfectly sure that no other key existed, 
some one had entered the room during her absence. A woman, pale* 

sad, and silent, was seated by 
little Hermann’s side, gently 
rocking his cradle, whilst from 
her cold lips, white as mar- 
ble, came a lullaby, which was 
uttered in no mortal tongue. 

Notwithstanding and 
however great her terror, the 
nurse thought she had only to 
deal with a living creature 
like herself, so she took a 
step or tw T o towards the 
strange woman, who seemed 
to be unaware of her pres- 
ence an 1 continued her terrible, monotonous 
chant without sho ving the least other sign of 

“ Who are you % ” asked the nurse. “ Where 
do you come from ? And how have you man- 
“ Ge tin roc.hi„ u i,is aged to get into this room when I have the onlv 

cradle ” , b & , „ 

key m my pocket s 

Then the unknown stretched forth her arms solemnly and 
answered : — 



“ I am of those to whom no door is closed. 

From the tomb where for fifty years 1 have reposed, 

My ears caught the sound of this child’s helpless moan ; 

My heart on a sudden leapt up where it lay, 

Though it crumbled to dust in my icy-cold clay 
As I slept on my sad bed of stone. 

“ Poor child ! Fate has spun thee a dolorous thread : 

Thy father is wicked ; thy mother is dead ; 

Thou art left to coarse hands whose vile touch does thee wrong ; 

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* 5 ? THE COUNTESS BERTHA’S HONEY-FEAST 

Thou canst not fight even with fingers so frail ; 

Thou must needs fall asleep to the dirge of thy wail 
As a bird falls asleep in its song ! 

“ Then sleep on this earth for but one sad night more, 

When day dawns to-morrow thy woes will be o’er; 

For an angel from heaven will fly down to thee ; 

To free thee for ever from man’s harsh despite, 

And bear thee away on her pinions of light, 

To bring thee safe homeward to me.” 

And with these words the ghost of the Countess (for she it was) 
bent over the cradle and embraced her great-grandson with infinite 
tenderness. 

The little one had fallen asleep with a smile upon his rosy cheeks, 
but the first rays of morning, gliding through the window-panes, 
found him white and rigid as a corpse. 

The next day he was laid in the family vault near to the body of 
his great-grandmother. 

But poor little Hermann was not dead. The following night the 
spirit of the Countess rose once more, and taking him in her arms, 
carried him to the King of the Dwarfs, a good and clever elf, who 
at her request willingly took charge of the child. 

CHAPTER X— IV ilbolcl of Eisenfeld 

G REAT was the stepmother’s joy when she heard of the death 
of the sole heir of the Rosenbergs. But God deceived her 
in her hopes ; she had neither son nor daughter, and at the 
end of three years she herself died. Waldemar only lived 
three or four years after lier, and was killed in the hunting-field, some 
said by a boar which he had wounded, others said by a peasant whom 
he had ordered to be beaten with rods. 

So the castle of Wistgaw with all its villages and estates fell into 
the hands of a distant member of the family called Wilbold of Eisen- 
feld. This man was not a wicked person : he was worse than that ; 
he was one of those men who, careless of their souls, are neither good 
nor bad, who do right or do wrong without earnestness or zest, who 

[ 89 ] 




FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 


listened to everybody’s tale and was always of tlie same opinion as the 
last person who had spoken to him. 

He was brave and admired bravery, but he was easily taken in 
by a show of courage, just as he was by a pretence of wit or of virtue. 

And so the Baron Wilbold came to live in the castle built by 
Count Osmond and the Countess Bertha, bringing with him a charm- 
ing girl, still in the cradle, called Hilda. 

The first thing the steward did was to tell the new master all 
about his rights and duties, and amongst these, of course, was the 
honey-feast, which custom had been kept up, more or less, ever since 
it was founded. 

Now, as the steward urged upon the Baron that all the previous 
masters of the castle had looked upon the feast as a most important 
affair, and as the old man himself firmly believed that Heaven itself 
had blessed the kindly custom, Wilbold not only offered no opposition, 
but even gave orders that the ceremony should take place every 
First day of May with all the old pomp and grandeur. 

Several years rolled by, and the Baron gave such a good and 
bountiful feast every spring that the people forgave him his faults, 
which were many, in consideration of his obedience to the commands 
of the Countess Bertha. What is more, several other lords, either 
from goodness or b cause they thought it prudent, followed the Bar- 
on’s example, and founded, either on their birthday or the day of 
their patron saint, a honey-feast more or less tasty. 

But there was one of these gentry who not only did not copy this 
good custom, but tried to keep others from doing so. This man, who 
was one of the Baron’s greatest friends, one of his most regular guests, 
and one of his favourite advisers, was called the Chevalier Hans de 
Warburg. 










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THE COUNTESS BERTH A 9 S HONEY-FEAST 


CHAPTER XI — The Chevalier Hans de 



T HE Chevalier Hans de Warburg was a giant in size, being 
some six feet two inches in height, and tremendously strong. 
He always went armed with a great sword, which he slapped 


fiercely whenever he threatened $ foe with his anger ; and 


he carried a dagger, too, which he was fond of drawing from time to 
time, to give fierceness to his boasting words. In reality the man 
was the biggest coward the earth ever bore, and whenever the geese 
on his estate ran hissing after him, he took to his heels as if the devil 
were at his coat-tails. 

Now, as we have said, the Chevalier Hans had not only refused 
to give a honey-feast of his own, but had prevented others from 
adopting the custom whenever he could persuade them so to do. 
But that was not all, for, excited by his success in this matter, he 
undertook to cure Wilbold of his allegiance to this good old custom. 

“ Swords and daggers, my dear Wilbold ! ” he said ; “ you must 
agree that it is very kind of you to waste your money in filling the 
vile bodies of a set of lazy rogues, who laugh at you as soon as their 
backs are turned, with the last morsel of your feast still in their 
throats ! ” 

“ My dear Hans,” answered Wilbold, “ I have often thought over 
what you say, I can assure you ; for although this feast is only given 
once a year, it none the less costs as much as fifty ordinary dinners. 
But what would you have me do ] They say that the good luck of 
the castle goes with it.” 

“ And who told you such fairy tales, my dear Wilbold] Your 
old steward, I expect. I know why : he makes a good thing out of 
it every year, so no wonder he begs you to keep it up ! ” 

“ But there ’s another point,” continued the Baron. 


- What’s that?” 


M 


“ The Countess’s anger.” 


“ Who is she ] ” 

“ The Countess Bertha.” 



[ 91 ] 




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• 5 * THE COUNTESS BERTH A’ S H ONE! -FEAST 

“ You believe in those nursery stories, at your time of life ? ” 

“ Well, they are well founded ; and there’s a deed in the family 
papers — ” 

“ What ! Are you afraid of an old woman ? ” 

“ My dear Chevalier, 1 am afraid of neither man nor woman living, 
neither you nor anyone else ; but l own I am a little afraid of shadowy 
creatures without flesh or bone, especially when they take the trouble 
to come from another world on purpose to visit me.” 

Hans burst out laughing. 

“ Then you think you would be braver if you were in my place i ” 
asked the Baron. 

“ J fear neither god nor devil ! ” cried the Chevalier, drawing him- 
self up to his full height. 

“ Very good ; so be it,” said Wilbold. “ The First of May, the day 
of the feast, will soon be here. I will leave it off for once and see 
what happens.” 

But between then and the First of May the Baron had another 
talk with the steward, with the result that he went back on his rash 
resolve of stopping the celebration altogether, and ordered that instead 
of a honey-feast of the old sumptuous kind, the people should receive 
an ordinary meal and nothing more. 

The peasants were astonished by this niggardly treatment, to 
which they were quite unaccustomed, but they did not grumble, for 
they thought that perhaps their lord, who was usually generous 
enough, had his own reasons for spending less money this year. 

But the change was received very differently by the little elves 
who knew the reason of it, and who were guardians of the fortunes 
of the castle of Wistgaw. 

All through the night following the wretched apology for a meal 
they kicked up such a frightful hullabaloo that no one in the castle 
could sleep a wink ; and everyone passed the night opening doors 
and windows, to find out who was knocking at the one or tapping at 
the other. But no one set eyes on the disturbers, not even the Baron. 
It is true that he pulled the clothes over his head (as you do, my dear 
children, when you are frightened), and kept snug and close under 
the sheets ! 





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CHAPTER XII— Hilda 

W ILBOLD, like all weak people, soon turned stubborn when 
he was thwarted, and in this case he was encouraged by 
having got off so cheaply, — for it was no great punish- 
ment to be deprived of a night’s sleep ; and if one came 
out of the affair a thousand florins the richer, the bargain was still a 
good one. 

Encouraged by Hans’ approval and advice, and yet not wishing 
to give up a good old custom all at once, the Baron called his people 
together, the following First of May ; and without saying a word about 
the feast which had always gone before it, he served them with simple 
honey-broth and no more, without even meat or wine, — and those 
who had a keen taste in such matters noticed that there was less 
sugar in the honey than usual. Not only had Wilbold done away 
with all the other parts of the feast, but he had contrived to save 
money over the honey, too. 

This time the midnight visitors showed their temper in downright 
earnest. All through that night there was a fiendish commotion in 
and out of the castle, and next day the windows, the chandeliers, and 
the china were found smashed to pieces. The steward drew up a 
bill of the damage done in the night, and found that it came to the 
exact amount which the lords of Wistgaw usually spent over the 
honey-feast. • ' 

The steward saw at once what this hint on the part of the dwarfs 
meant to show, and did not fail to point out to the Baron that the 
two accounts — the money saved and the money that he would have 
to spend — tallied exactly. 

But this time Wilbold in his turn was angry in downright earnest. 
Besides, although he had heard the awful hubbub which had turned 
the castle topsy-turvy, he had seen nobody. He hoped, therefore, 
that the Countess, who had never reappeared since the night when 
she had visited earth to watch over little Hermann, had now been 
dead too long to come out of her tomb again. And as he seemed 
obliged to spend a certain sum of money one way or another, he pre- 


















«§£ THE COUNTESS BERTHA’ S HONEY-FEAST 


ferred to renew his furniture rather than to feast his peasantry. So 
the following year he resolved to give his people nothing at all, not 
even the honey-broth ; but as he guessed that this total disobedience 
of the Countess Bertha’s will would bring upon his head all the wrath 
that such a deed was likely to arouse, lie made up his mind to leave 
the castle on the twenty-eighth of April, and not return until the 
fifth of May. 

But this wretched scheme met with at least one protest. 

Fifteen years had gone bv since the Baron Wilbold of Eisenfeld 
had taken up his abode at the castle ; and during that time the pretty 
little babe that entered its walls in her cradle had grown both tall 
and beautiful. She was now a charming young girl, pious and loving, 
who had lived so much of her life alone that solitude had given her 
an air of sweet, settled sedateness which admirably matched her pale 
face and nun-like name. To see her walking by day in her garden, 
listening to the songs of the birds, which she seemed to understand 
so well, oc sitting by night at her window, watching the moon as it 
peeped out after every passing cloud, as if she were listening to its 
story or telling it her own, — all this was enough to teach the hardest 
heart the truth and the value of love, and to set the more passionate 
hearts a-loviug at once. 

When Hilda knew that her father was set upon giving up the 
honey-feast altogether that year, she said all that her sense of duty 
and respect as a daughter would allow her to say, in gentle remon- 
strance ; but neither her soft voice nor her pleading looks could move 
the Baron’s heart, which had been hardened by the bad counsels of 
his friend Hans. 

Wilbold accordingly left the castle on the day appointed, telling 
his steward that the stupid superstition of the honey-feast had been 
kept up quite long enough ; and that from the First of May hence- 
forth it would be abandoned, not only because it was costly in itself, 
but because it set a bad example to others. 

The young girl, seeing that she could not bring back her father 
to his better self, gathered together all her little savings, and as they 
amounted in all to the sum which was usually spent on the yearly 
feast, she journeyed forth on foot through the estate, telling the peo- 
ple everywhere that as her father was obliged to go away for a little 
while, he was unable to keep the First of May that year, but that he 

[ 95 ] 



FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 

had charged her to give away the money which it cost to the poor 
and the sick amongst his people. 

The peasants believed her, nr at least pretended that they did ; 
and as they had no very pleasant memories of the last year’s feast, 
they were delighted to exchange a poor dinner for a rich gift, and 
blessed the hand that Wilbold had chosen to scatter these benefits 
upon them. 

Only the little guardian angels of the castle could not be deceived 
thus, and were not for a moment blinded by the pious trick played by 
the beautiful Hilda. 


CHAPTER XIII — The Hand of Fire 

O N the fourth of May Wilbold returned to the castle. The 
first thing he did was to summon the steward and inquire 
whether all had been quiet during his absence. Then, 
when he learnt that things had gone on as usual, that his 
people had not complained, that the “ spirits ” had made no disturb- 
ance, he was more than ever sure that he had tired them out, and that 
he had got rid of them, once and for all. So, having bidden his 
daughter good-night, and given his orders for the morrow, he went to 
bed in great content of mind. 

But scarcely had he got between the sheets than there arose in 
and about the castle the most horrible row that ever you heard. 
Outside the dogs howled, the howlets shrieked, the horned owls 
hooted, the cats miaowed, and the heavens thundered. Within, 
there was a noise as of chains rattling along the floors ; the furniture 
was overturned with a crash ; stones rolled heavily down the corri- 
dors, — it was a rumpus, a hullabaloo, a shindy, a hubbub, loud and 
terrifying enough to make one fancy that all the witches and goblins 
in spirit-land, with the King of Hell at their head, had deserted their 
wonted place of meeting on the Brocken 1 and had come to hold their 
unholy revels in the castle of Wistgaw. 

At midnight the noises ceased, and a silence fell, — a stillness so 

1 The top of a mountain in Germany which (it was supposed in older days) was haunted by 
evil spirits who held nightly revels there. 

[ 96 ] 



THE COUNTESS BE RTH A’ S HONEY- EE A ST * 3 * 

complete that one could clearly hear the twelve strokes as they rang 
out solemnly, one after another. As the last of them died awav 
Wilbold, feeling a little relieved, popped his head out of the bed- 
clothes and ventured to look about him. 

Suddenly his hair bristled and stood on end, and a cold sweat 
rolled down his face ! 

A hand of fire had appeared through the side of the room oppo- 
site his bed ; and using the tip of .its finger for a pen, it wrote these 
words in glowing letters on the dark wall of the bedchamber : 

“ To keep the Countess Bertha's rule 

Kind Heaven gives thee seven days' grace ; 

If thou shouldst fail — self-ruined fool ! — 

The castle passes from thy race ! ” 

Then the hand disappeared, and one after another, in the order in 
which they had been written, the letters grew fainter and fainter and 
passed away. When the last of them went out, the room, which had 
been lit up brightly by this sort of poetic fire, became once again 
wrapped in darkness. 

Next morning all the Barones servants, from the highest to the 
lowest, came to .give their master notice, declaring that they dared 
not stay in the castle another day. Wilbold, who in his heart was as 
anxious to get away as they were, replied that rather than part from 
his good servants he would go and live elsewhere, and give up Wist- 
gaw to the demons, who seemed to want it entirely to themselves. 

That very day, in spite of Hilda’s tears, the Baron with his house- 
hold left the old fortress in a body, and went off to take up their 
quarters in the castle of Eisenfeld, which had been left to Wil- 
bold by his father, and which was only half-a-day’s journey from 
Wistgaw. 




























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C HI PTFR XIV — The Chevalier For aid 

T HF whole country-side had two pieces of news to talk about 
just then. The first was the departure of the Baron Wilbold 
of Fisenfeld ; the second, the arrival of the Chevalier Torald. 
The Chev alier Torald was a handsome young man, 
twenty-one or twenty -two years of age, who, although still young, had 
lived in all the chief courts of Furope, and had already earned wide 
fame by his courage and courtesy. 

He was truly one of the most accomplished of Knights, and won- 
derful stories were whispered about concerning his youth and upbring- 
ing. It was said that he had been left when quite a baby to the care 
of the King of the Dwarfs, who, being himself a very learned Prince, 
had vowed to make his young charge a paragon and a prodigy. He 
had taught the boy to read all the learned writings of the ancients, 
to speak all kinds of languages, living and dead, to paint, play the 
lute, sing, ride, fence, and joust. Then, when the lad was eighteen, 
and the King his tutor saw that Torald had become all that even he 
could have hoped, he had given the young Knight as equipment the 
renowned horse Bucephalus, which would never grow weary, however 
much he was ridden ; the famous lance of Astolpho, which threw from 
his saddle any foe whom its owner touched with its diamond point ; 
and, lastly, the wondrous sword Burandal, which shattered the strong- 
est and newest armour into fragments, so keen was its edge. To 
these gifts, which were rare, and welcome enough, he added another 
even more desirable ; namely, a purse which always contained twenty- 
five golden crowns, however often you dipped into it. 

One can easily understand what an excitement the arrival of so 
famous a Knight caused in the neighbourhood. But scarcely had the 
young Chevalier passed through the village of Rosenberg mounted 
on his horse, armed with his magic lance, and with his famous sword 
tapping his side, than he disappeared, and no one heard or saw any- 
thing more of him. Of course such a mystery only made everyone 
all the more curious about the wonderful stranger. 

Folks certainly did say that he had been seen that night standing 
below the castle walls of Wistgaw, in a boat which floated in mid- 

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THE COUNTESS BERTHA 9 S HONEY-FEAST 



“ in a boat which floated ... as if at anchor ” < 


stream as if at anchor, although the Rhine ran 
fiercely past its sides. They vowed, too, that he 
had been espied, lute in hand, at the peak of a high 
rock facing the castle, where only the talons of 
falcon or eagle had hitherto trod. 

But all these tales were treated as only idle ru- 
mours, and no one could say outright that he had 
seen the Chevalier Torald since the hour when he 
passed through the village of Rosenberg, clad 
from head to foot in armour, and mounted on his 
horse. 


[ 99 ] 










































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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 


CHAPTER XV— The Slayer of Ghosts 

T HE fiery hand had given the Baron Wilbold seven days in 
which to repent ; but the foolish man, urged on by his evil 
adviser, had made up his mind not to go back on his de- 
cision ; and in order to bolster up his courage he resolved 
to spend his three last days of grace in feasts and riotous living. He 
had one excuse for these rejoicings in the fact that Hilda’s birthday 
fell on the eighth of May, — for the fair maiden had been born in the 
month of roses. 

Now, Hans had another reason for visiting his good friend of 
Eisenfeld more and more frequently. He had fallen desperately in 
love with the beautiful Hilda ; and although he was quite forty-five 
years of age — that is, three times as old as the young girl — he 
dared to suggest the marriage to his friend. 

Hilda’s father knew little of the tender secrets of a maiden’s heart, 
of the delicate threads of hope and fancy from which she weaves her 
day-dreams of sadness or delight, misery or happiness. He had 
wedded his own wife without being in love with her, and yet had 
been perfectly happy in his married life, for the Countess was truly 
a saint. So he never dreamed that Hilda would wish to love her 
husband in order to be happy in her future life. Add to this ignorance 
Wilbold’s great admiration for Hans’ swaggering ways, his knowledge 
of the Chevalier’s fortune, which was at least as great as his own, 
and, lastly, the constant pleasure that he found in Warburg’s society, 
for that lively braggart amused the Baron immensely with his stories 
of battles, tourneys and duels, in all of which, of course, Hans had 
come off best. 

So the Baron neither accepted nor refused the Chevalier’s offer ; 
but he hinted that he would be glad if the would-be suitor found 
favour in Hilda’s eyes, which should surely be an easy task for so 
brave, gallant, and witty a Knight. 

Thenceforth Hans showed himself more and more attentive 
towards the fair lady of his hopes, who listened to all his compli- 
ments with her wonted gravity and modesty, as if she had no idea 
what they meant to convey. 

” [ 100 ] 













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THE COTJNTESS BERTHA’S HONEY-FEAST 

The fifth day after the vision of the fiery hand, then, was Hilda’s 
birthday, and, faithful to his intention, Wilbold had invited all his 
friends to a grand dinner, and, as will readily be guessed, had taken 
good care that his boon companion and fast friend Hans was one ot 
them. 

The guests had gathered together, and entered the dining-room 
to take their allotted places at table, when the blast of a horn was 
heard without, and the major-domo announced to his master that a 
Knight had presented himself at the castle gates and craved the 
Baron’s hospitality. 

“ By mv sword ! ” cried Wilbold, “ here ’s a gallant with a keen 
scent ! Go, tell him he is welcome, and that we await him before 
sitting down to dinner.” 

Five minutes later the young stranger entered the hall. He was 
a handsome young fellow, twenty-one or twenty-two years of age, 
with black hair and blue eyes ; and he greeted the company with an 
ease and grace which showed that he had been used to the society 
of the highest in the land. 

His noble bearing made an instant impression on the other guests ; 
and the host himself, seeing with what a distinguished stranger he 
had to do, offered the young man his own seat. But the Unknown 
declined the honour, and having thanked the Baron in the most 
courteous fashion, took a humbler seat at the table. 

No one knew the young stranger by sight, and all stared curiously 
at him save Hilda, who kept her eyes downcast. Yet had anyone 
watched her closely when the new-comer appeared on the threshold 
of the hall, they would have seen her blush deeply. 

The feast was ample ; and the feasters were noisy, for the wine 
flowed freely. Wilbold and Hans attracted everyone’s notice by the 
frequency and heartiness with which they drank each other’s health. 

It would have been strange if the meal had passed without some 
mention of the haunted castle ; and soon the Chevalier Hans began 
to poke fun at his friend for being so frightened of ghosts, — a terror 
which Wilbold frankly owned to feeling, like the brave man that he 
was. 

“ Faith, my dear Chevalier,” added the Baron, “ I should have 
liked to see you in my place when that terrible hand of fire wrote 
those never-to-be-forgotten lines on the wall.” 

[ 101 ] 











































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“ Fudge and fancy ! ” roared Flans. “ It was a nightmare, or your 
wits were wandering. I don’t believe in ghosts myself! ” 

“ That ’s because you’ve never seen one. But if you did, what 

would von sav then ? ” 

•- */ 

“ I would deal with it in such a way that it would never trouble 
me again, I promise you!” shouted Hans, slapping Ids sword noisily. 

“ Very good,” answered Wilbold. “ Then I ’ve a proposal to 
make, Hans.” 

“ What is it % ” 

“You lav the ghost of the Countess Bertha so that she never 
walks in Wistgaw castle again, and I’ll grant any favour you choose 
to ask ” 

“ Whatever I ask ? ” 

“Yes,” answered the Baron, firmly. 

“ Mind what you ’re saying ! ” cried Warburg, laughing. 

“ Lay the Countess Bertha’s ghost, and then ask boldly what you 
will.” 

“ And whatever l ask you ’ll grant '? ” 

“On my word of honour as a gentleman.” 

“ Even the fair Hilda’s hand in marriage? ” 

“Yes, even mv daughter’s hand in marriage.” 

“ Oh, Father! ” cried the young mistress of the castle, in a tone of 
gentle reproach. 

“ Well, child,” retorted the Baron, somewhat heated with the wine 
he had drunk, “ what I have said, I have said. Hans, I never go 
back on my word. Lay the Countess’s ghost, and my daughter is 
yours.” 

“ And would you give the same reward, my Lord Baron, to whom- 
soever should succeed in the task when the Chevalier has failed 1 ” 
asked the young stranger, suddenly. 

“ ‘ When I have failed ’ % ” repeated Hans, rudely. “ Oho ! So 
you think 1 shall fail, do you, mister ? ” 

“ I do not think so, Chevalier,” answered the Unknown, in a voice 
so gentle and sweet that it might have been a girl’s. 

“You mean to say you’re sure of it 1 ? Ghosts and goblins, Mr. 
Unknown ! ” cried Hans, raising his voice ; “ do you know that what 
you say is very impertinent ! ” 

“ Whatever happens, the favour which I asked of the Baron can- 

[ 102 ] 



^ THE COUNTESS BERTHA* S HONEY-FEAST 1 

not affect your chances of success, Chevalier, since my turn would not 
come until you have had yours.” 

“But before I give you my promise, my dear guest,” said the 
Baron, pleasantly, “ I must first know who you are.” 

“ I am the Chevalier Torald,” answered the young man. 

This name had already become so renowned throughout the 
country that at the sound of it all the guests started to their feet, to 
bow their acknowledgment of the young man’s fame. Wilbold him- 
self felt that he could do no less than make a pretty speech to so 
noble a guest. 

“ Chevalier,” he said, “ young as you are, your name is already so 
well known that any father might be proud to have you for a son-in- 
law. But I have known the Chevalier of Warburg for twenty years, 
and have the honour of meeting you now for the first time. There- 
fore I could not in any case accept your offer without first laying it 
before my daughter for her approval.” 

Hilda blushed to the whites of her eyes. 

“ I have vowed never to take to wife a maiden of whose love 
I am not assured,” said Torald, proudly. 

Ever since the young stranger had made known his name, Hans 
had kept wonderfully silent. 

“Very good, Chevalier,” said the Baron; “since you leave the 
matter to my daughter’s choice, and yield the first turn to my friend i 
Hans, I don’t see why I should n’t offer you the same reward as I have 
offered to him, if your birth proves to be all that I can desire.” 

“ My family ranks as high as the greatest nobles in Germany, my 
lord. And what is more,” added Torald, with a smile, “ I may add, 
what perhaps you don’t know or even suspect, that we are in a way 
related.” 

“ What ! we ’re related 1 ” cried Wilbold, in astonishment. 

“ Yes,” answered the young Knight, “ as you shall know, one day. 
Meanwhile, let us keep to our point, — the laying of the Countess’s 
spirit.” 

“ Yes, I confess that I sha’n’t be sorry to see that matter settled 
once and for all,” said Wilbold, candidly. 

“ Very good. Let the Chevalier Hans stand the test to-night, 
and I will take my turn to-morrow night.” 

“ Now, that ’s what I call talking ! ” cried the Baron, heartily. “ I 

[ 103 ] 



FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 


*%* 




like to see the thing faced in such a bold fashion. Chevalier Torald, 
you are a fine young fellow ! Shake hands.” And Wilbold stretched 
out his hand to the young man, who gripped it with a bow of 
acknowledgment. 

Still Hans held his tongue, and looked glummer than ever. 
Wilbold now turned* to his friend, and noted his paleness with 
amazement. 

“ Come, Hans,” he said, “ there ’s a proposal that should please 
you well ; and since you ’re in such a terrible hurry to meet the spirits 
face to face, you ought to thank the Chevalier for offering you the 
chance this very night ! ” 

“Oh, yes, yes, of course!” cried Warburg; “yes, yes! But it 
will be no use! I shall only waste my time, for the spirits won’t 
come.” 

“You are mistaken, Chevalier,” replied Torald, with the air of a 
man who knows what he ’s talking about ; “ they will come.” 

Hans turned gray and green. 

“ However,” continued the Kuight, “ if you would like to give up 
your turn to me, I shall be very glad to take it, and will bear the first 
onslaught of the mysterious spirits. Perhaps they won’t be quite so 
terrible at a second meeting.” 

“ Oh, well,” said Hans, “ whether I ’m first or second is all the 
same to me, so if you ’d like to take first turn — ” 

“ No, no, not so fast ! ” cried Wilbold. “ I intend that all shall 
be as we at first arranged. Keep to your order, gentlemen, — Hans 
to-night, the Chevalier Torald to-morrow night.” 

He filled his cup and rose, orying, — 

“ To the health of the ghost-slayer! ” 

All the guests drank to the Baron’s toast ; but that nobleman 
noted with surpiise that his friend’s hand trembled as he raised the 
goblet to his lips. 

“ Then that ’s agreed ! ” said Wilbold ; “ we start after dinner.” 

Poor Hans was caught like a mouse in a trap. He had 'thought, 
when he undertook the task, to get out of it in his usual way, by 
bluffing. He had meant to pretend to visit the castle, but to pass the 
night somewhere in its neighbourhood, and describe his terrible com- 
bat with the evil spirits to his friends next morning, at his ease. 
But there was no longer any chance of that ; thanks to the meddling 

[ 104 ] 






THE COUNTESS BERTH A 9 S HONEY-FEAST *%* 


interference of the young stranger, the matter had taken a serious 
turn, and he saw that either his host or his rival would take care that 
he was not allowed to shirk the task. And, sure enough, when the 
Baron rose from dinner he announced that he would himself go with 
Hans, and in order that there should be no getting out of it he would 
lock the door of the haunted bedroom each night, and place his seal 
upon it. 

There was no drawing back. Hans asked leave to go home and 
don his armour, so as to be able to defend himself against the enemy 
if any of the spirits dared to attack him. He did so, and returned, j 
armed from head to foot, and the party set out for Wistgaw. 

The little procession consisted of Baron Wilbold of Eisenfeld, j 
Hans de Warburg, the Chevalier Torald, and three or four other I 
guests, who, foreseeing sport in the contest, whichever way it turned 
out, accompanied their host, who was to sleep in a farmhouse of his 
own, half a league from the castle. 

CHAPTER XVI— The Duel 


f — | — >HE party arrived at Wistgaw about nine in the evening, 
just at the right time for carrying the business through 
> comfortably. 

Hans was very uneasy in his mind, but he tried to bear 
up against his ill luck, and put a bold face on the matter. 

The castle was plunged in darkness, and so silent and shadowy 
did it seem that you might have taken it for a phantom itself. 

The men entered the hall, traversed the great silent rooms, hung 
with gloomy tapestry, passed along endless corridors, and at length 
opened the door of the fatal room. 

It was as cold, dark, and silent as the rest of the deserted castle. 
A great fire was soon built on the hearth ; the candles were lighted 
in the sconces and sticks ; and then, the company having bidden 
Hans good-night, the Baron locked the door on the outside and 
sealed it to the frame with a strip of paper and two seals bearing his 
arms. 

The guests shouted a final farewell to the prisoner and hurried 
away to the farmhouse and their beds. 

[ 105 ] 



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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS ^ 

Hans, thus left alone, thought at first of escaping through the 
window, but soon found that there was no chance of that. It looked 
out upon a precipice, which the darkness made more deep and terrible. 

He tapped the walls, but they sounded dull and thick, showing 
that there was no secret door hidden in them. Whether he would or 
no, he was a prisoner for the night. 

The Chevalier tested his armour from head to foot, to make sure 
that it was well fastened, — felt for his sword, saw that his dagger 
slipped smoothly in its sheath and that his visor moved freely. 
Then, satisfied that in that respect, at least, all was as it should be, 
he seated himself in a great armchair in front of the fire. 

The hours passed by without any disturbing sound or sight, and 
presently Hans began to feel more cheerful. In the first place, he 
told himself, since there was no secret door, and the only entrance 
to the room was safely locked, the ghosts would be as bothered to 
get in as he had been to get out. True, he had heard that spirits 
take little heed of such obstacles, and pass through walls or keyholes 
without so much as a “With your leave” or “ By your leave,” but 
still he felt himself more secure. 

We ought to set it down to the Chevalier’s credit that he was 
even beginning to doze, when suddenly he heard a loud noise in the 
chimney flue, and quickly flung more wood on the fire, thinking 
to roast the legs of any visitors who might try to come down that 
way. 

The fire, it is- true, blazed up anew, and mounted higher at the 
back of the hearth, crackling and hissing ; but all in a moment the 
Chevalier saw the tip of a plank coming out of the chimney. It was 
a board about a foot wide, which moved outward, growing longer 
and longer, without anything to show what was pushing it. It came 
on slowly and slantingly, and, reaching the floor, formed a sort of 
bridge over the flames. At the same instant a crowd of little dwarfs 
came sliding down it, like boys on a snow-hill. At their head was 
the King of the Dwarfs, who was clad in full armour, like Hans him- 
self, as if he were leading his people to battle. 

As fast as the little army poured into the room, Hans started 
farther back, pushing his chair on its castors ; so that by the time 
the King and his men had ranged themselves in battle array, he had 
reached the far end of the room, and only stopped when the wall for- 

[ 106 J 





^ THE COUNTESS BERTH A’ S HONEY-FEAST •gf* 

bade his further retreat. Asa result, a large clear space stretched 
between the giant and his little foes. 

And now the King of the Dwarfs, after consulting his officers in a 
low voice, marched forward alone into the arena. Then, with hand 
on hip, he said in a mocking voice, — 

“ Chevalier Hans, I have often heard tell of vour wonderful 
bravery. It is true that it has always been yourself who has boasted 
of it ; but a good Knight should never lie, and I must believe there- 
fore that you have spoken the truth. So it occurred to me to chal- 
lenge you to single combat ; and having heard that you valiantly 
offered to rid the Baron of the ghost that haunts the castle, I have 
persuaded that lady, who is a great friend of mine, to let me take 
her place to-night. If you are the victor, she promises through me 
to leave the castle and never appear in it again ; if you are conquered, 
you shall honourably confess your defeat and yield place to the 
Chevalier Torald, whom I have no doubt I shall easily overthrow, 
for I have never heard him boast of having ‘ cloven ’ anybody ‘ in 
twain.’ So, as I do not doubt that you will accept my challenge, 
there is my glove ! ” 

And with these words the King of the Dwarfs flung his gauntlet 
proudly at the Chevalier’s feet. 

Whilst the tiny monarch was making this declaration in his clear 
little voice, Hans looked at him keenly, and having made sure that 
the speaker was no more than six-and-a-half inches high at most, he 
began to feel more at his ease. He could surely have nothing to fear 
from such a foe ! So he picked up the glove with something of his 
old swagger, and set it on the tip of his little finger, to see it more 
closely. It was made from the skin of a musk-rat, and was skilfully 
covered with fine scales of steel. 

The King let Hans examine the glove at his leisure, and then 
after a pause added, “ Well, Chevalier, I await your reply. Do you 
accept or refuse l ” 

Hans cast his eyes once more over the little champion who had 
challenged him to fight, and who did n’t stand even as high as his 
calf. Reassured by this fact, he answered, — 

“ And what shall we fight with, my little Hop o’ my Thumb ? ” 

“ With our own weapons, — you with your sword, I with my 
whip.” 


[ 107 J 






fa I ft Y T ALES J{ Y D V M A S «£» 

“ What l With your whip l ” 

“That is my usual arm. As L am little, 1 need one that will 
reach far ” 

flans burst out laughing. 

“What! you’ll fight me with your whip,” he asked, “and no 
other arm l ” 

“ No other.” 

“ You swear it l ” 

“ On my honour as a gentleman and a King.” 

“ Then I accept, said Mans, Hinging' down his glove in turn. 

“Good!” answered the little man, skipping aside so as not 
to be crushed by the great iron gauntlet. “ Trumpeter*, sound a 
flourish ! ” 

Twelve dwarf-heralds, mounted on a stool, blew a warlike blast, 
and other attendants brought their King the weapon with which he 
was to fight. 

It was a little whip, and the butt of its stock was carved out of 
an emerald. Five steel chains hung from the handle, each three feet 
long and tipped with sparkling diamonds as large as a pea. Except 
that it was costly, the whip was just like a toy cat-o ’-nine-tails. 

Meanwhile Hans, full of conceit in his strength, had drawn 
his sword. 

“ When you are ready ? ” said the King to the Chevalier. 

“ At your service, sire,” answered Hans. 

Instantly the trumpets blared forth again, in a still more martial 
fashion, and the fight began. 

But no sooner were the first blows delivered than the giant saw 
that he could by no means afford to laugh at his little enemy’s 
weapon. Protected though he was by his breastplate, he felt the 
sting of the lashes as if he had been naked, for wherever the dia- 
monds touched, they pierced the iron as if it had been no more than 
pie-trust. 

Soon Hans thought no more of attacking, or even defending him- 
self. He began to yell, to howl, to run round the chamber, jump 
over chairs, and spring upon the bed, pursued wherever he went by 
the pitiless whip, whilst the warlike air which the trumpeters played 
kept time to the combat, and so became more and more rapid and 
more and more like a galop than a march. 

[ 108 ] 





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*Z* TH E C O U X T E S S Ji E 1{ THA’ S HONE Y- EE A S T 


After five minutes of this kind of sport the big coward fell on his 
knees and whined for mercy. 

The King of the Dwarfs gave back the whip to his attendants, 
and, resuming his sceptre, replied, — 

“Chevalier Hans, you are nothing better than an old woman! 
You ought to carry a distaff and spindle instead of a sword and 
dagger ! ” 

With these words he touched the giant with his sceptre, and Hans 
felt a great change come over him. Then the dwarfs with one accord 
burst into loud laughter and disappeared in a flash. 


CHAPTER XVII — The Knight of the Distaff 

H ANS looked around him. He was alone. Then he looked 
at himself, and started back in amazement. 

He was dressed exactly like an old woman. His 
breastplate had turned into a striped thick-flannel smock ; 
his helmet was now a mob-cap ; his sword had changed to a distaff, 
and his dagger to a spindle. 

You quite understand that along with his new costume Hans 
was still wearing his beard and mustaches, and that the Chevalier 
looked very comical and very ugly, accordingly. 

When he saw himself decked out thus, Hans made a wry face, 
which caused him to look more ugly and more comical still ; but he 
immediately thought to undress and get into bed, so that no one 
should be able to guess what had happened. He set the distaff down 
on a chair and was about to snatch the Cap from his head, when the 
former sprang up again and rapped him so sharply on the knuckles 
that he found himself face to face with a new foe. 

Hans tried to defend himself, but the diabolical thing fenced so 
well that he was soon obliged to put his hands into his pockets out 
of harm’s way. 

Immediately the distaff placed itself in his belt once more and 
became still. The Chevalier took the opportunity of the pause to 
examine it more closely. 

It was a real distaff enough, exactly like all other distaffs, except 
that it was rather more elegant than most, and was topped by a gro- 

[ 109 ] 









FAIRY TALE S R Y DU M A S 


* 




tesque little head, which seemed to mock the Chevalier and put out 
its tongue at him. 

Hans pretended to grin hack at it, but lie slily sidled towards the 
fireplace, and, watching bis opp >rt unity, he plucked it from his belt 
by its waist and filing it right into the middle of the fire. 

But no sooner was the distaff on the blaze than it stood on end, 
covered with flames, and began to run after the Chevalier, who this 
time was not only beaten, but burnt, before he could cry, “ Mercy! ” 

As soon as he did so, the flames went out, and the distaff modestly 
took its place in his girdle once more. 

The affair was becoming serious. Day began to dawn, and Hans 
knew that the Baron, Torald, and the others would soon return. He 
racked his wits to think of a wav in which to rid himself of the 
cursed distaff, and at last decided to throw it out of the window. 

He lounged up to the casement, carelessly humming a tune, so as 
not to arouse the creature’s suspicions ; and then, opening the window 
as if to look out at the view and get a breath of the fresh morning 
air, he suddenly seized upon his strange foe, flung it down the preci- 
pice, and shut it out quickly. The next moment he heard a crash of 
glass, and, looking towards the other window, he saw that the distaff 
had returned by that route. 

This time it was really furious at this second piece of treachery, 
and fell upon the unhappy Hans, thumping him savagely with its 
head until he was bruised all over. He howled again with anguish 
and at last he fell exhausted into a chair. His tormentor, taking pity 
on him, was content to slip back into its place. 

Presently the Chevalier thought to soften the strange creature’s 
heart by pretending to do something for it, and so he began to spin. 
The distaff indeed seemed very well pleased. Its little head nodded 
with satisfaction, its eyes sparkled with delight, and it began to hum 
a low song. 

Suddenly Hans heard a noise in the corridor, and wanted to stop 
in his work ; but that did not suit the distaff, which tapped his 
knuckles so smartly that he was forced to go on spinning. The steps 
came nearer and nearer, and stopped at the door. Hans was furious at 
the thought of being caught in such a guise, and at such an employ, 
but there was no help for it. 

In another moment the door opened, and the Baron, the Cheva- 






























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lier Torald, and the rest of the guests stood on the threshold, amazed 
at the strange sight which greete 1 their eves. 

Hans, whom they had left overnight fully armed, was sitting there 
dressed like an old woman, spinning with distaff and spindle. 

The new-comers burst out laughing As for Hans, lie did not 
know what to do, or where to hide himself. 

“ Bv Jove! ” cried Wilbold, “it seems that the spirits who have 
visited you have been merry fellows indeed, comrade ! I am curious 
to hear all about your adventures.” 

“ Well, this is how it happened,” answered Hans, who hoped to 
bluff his wav out of his plight, — “ this is how it happened. Oh, yes ; 
it ’s a bet — ” 

But at that the distaff, who saw that he was going to tell stories 
about the affair, dealt him such a violent blow on the fingers that 
he yelled aloud. 

“ Confound the distaff! ” he muttered. Then he continued, — 

“ It is a bet I ’ve made. Thinking that as the ghost was only an 
old woman, it was useless to prepare to meet her with other arms 
than a distaff' and spindle — ” 

But here again the magic thing, unheeding the pleading look that 
Hans gave it, began to bridle up and play such a tune upon his 
knuckles that Wilbold cried, — 

“ Come, friend Hans, I see that you ’re lying, and that’s why the 
distaff beats you so. Tell us the truth, and it will let you alone.” 

As if it perfectly understood what the Baron said, the distaff 
bowed low to him and nodded its head as if to say that he had 
guessed rightly. 

So Hans was willy-nilly forced to confess all that had happened 
from beginning to end. Every now and then he tried to stray from 
the truth, and touch up the facts so as to make himself less cowardly 
and ridiculous ; but the distaff, which remained quiet so long as he 
behaved honestly, fell upon him directly he began to invent, and so 
he was obliged to return to the path of truth once more. 

When the whole story had at last been told, the distaff rose from 
its place, made Hans a mocking reverence, bowed to the rest of the 
company politely, and marched towards the door, hopping on its 
stalk and leading the little spindle, who followed it as meekly as a 
child follows its mother. 


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«£? THE COUNTESS HER T HA’S HON E Y- FEAST *& 

No sQoner did Hans see that the magic thing had relieved him of 
its presence than he himself hurried out by the door also and ran 
home to his castle, followed by a hooting crowd of all the ragamuffins 
in the neighbourhood, who took him for a guy. 

CHAPTER XF Ih — The Treasure 

T HE following night it was the Chevalier Torald’s turn to 
keep watch, and he prepared for the midnight encounter 
with as much care and humility as Hans had shown care- 
lessness apd contempt. He was led to the bedchamber, 
and locked and sealed in it. He had gone unarmed, for he declared 
that earthly weapons were useless against spirits, who were the ser- 
vants of Heaven itself. 

As soon as he was alone, the young knight said his prayersffievoutly, 
and, seating himself in the armchair, awaited the moment when the 
ghost should choose to appear. 

For some hours he sat thus, his gaze fixed on the door, without 
seeing anything remarkable. Then suddenly he heard a slight noise 
behind him, and something touched him lightly on the shoulder. 
He turned. The ghost of the Countess Bertha was standing in the 
middle of the room. 

“ Torald,” she said, “ you have grown to be all that 1 have hoped 
you would become, — a good, brave, pious young knight. You shall 
be rewarded as you deserve.” 

So saying, she made him a sign to follow her, and, going to one 
side of the chamber, touched the wall with her finger. It opened, and 
displayed there the treasure which Count Ulrik had hidden in former 
days, when war had forced him to abandon his home. 

“ That treasure is yours, my son,” said the Countess ; “ but lest 
anyone should dispute it, no one but yourself shall have power to 
bid the wall open, and the word with which to work the magic 
spell shall be the name of vour well-beloved, Hilda.” 

At the sound of the word, indeed, the wall closed again, so per- 
fectly that not a sign of seam or hinge was to be seen. 

Then the shade, with a last smile and kindly motion of the head, 
disappeared like a mist that melts away. 

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FAIRY TALES BY DUMAS 






Next morning when Wilbold and his companions entered the 
room, they found Torald sleeping peacefully in the armchair. The 
Baron awoke the young man, who smiled as he opened his eyes. 

“ Friend Torald,” said Wilbold, gravely, “ I had a dream last 
night. I dreamt that you were called, not Torald, but Hermann; 
that you were the great-grandson of Count Osmond, whom everyone 
believed to be dead, and that your great-grandmother Bertha had 
appeared to you in the night and shown you a treasure.” 

Torald understood by this that the vision had been sent to the 
Baron from heaven that he might doubt no more. So he rose with- 
out answering, and, beckoning to the other to follow him, stepped up 
to the magic wall. 

“Your dream was a true one, my lord,” he said; “I am indeed 
that Hermann whom you thought dead. The Countess, my great- 
grandmother, did appear to me in the night and show me the treas- 
ure ; and the proof is — here ! ” 

As he spoke, he uttered the name of Hilda, and as the ghost had 
promised, the wall opened. Wilbold stood agape at the sight of so 
much treasure, for it was not only money that lay heaped there, but 
rubies, emeralds, diamonds! 

“ Come, Cousin Hermann,” he cried at last, “ I see you have told 
the truth. Wistgaw and my daughter are both yours on one 
condition.” 

“ What is that ? ” asked Hermann, anxiously. 

“ That you undertake to give the people every First of May the 
honey-feast of the Countess Bertha ! ” 

And as you may easily guess, Hermann gratefully agreed. 

A week later Hermann of Rosenberg was married to Hilda of 
Eisenfeld ; and so long as the castle remained standing, they and their 
children and their children’s children celebrated regularly and gener- 
ously, on every First of May, 


THE COUNTESS BERTHA’S HONEY-FEAST. 









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